This Ginger Loaf Cake is deliciously moist, soft and tender. It takes only 15 minutes of prep to put together and will stay moist for days. With ground ginger, grated carrot and crumbled walnuts and naturally sweetened, this is a perfect cake to have with coffee.
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I love ginger and this cake was inspired by a recipe from Nigella Lawson, however I made a number of adjustments to the original recipe to replace the brown sugars and syrup with natural sweeteners which has lightened it up and put a healthy twist on it.
Why This Cake Works!
- There're no brown sugar! Instead its sweetened with natural sweeteners.
- Simple and easy ingredients
- It makes 8 thick slices
- Its light and filling
- You can get it into the oven in 15 minutes
- No special equipment required, just a bowl and a loaf tin
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Granulated Sweetener: Monkfruit Sweetener is my preferred natural sweetener for this recipe, however you could also use Natvia Stevia which is another type of granulated sweetener. Just make sure the alternative sweetener you're using measures like sugar.
- Date Syrup: this is available in the health food aisle from Woolworths and Coles in Australia and online at Amazon. The brand I use is called "Macro Date Syrup". Alternatively, Coconut Syrup could be used, or any unrefined syrup that has a dark thick consistency.
- Bicarb Soda: make sure to remove all lumps before adding to the bowl of dry ingredients. To remove lumps, push down on them with a spoon to squash them to a powder.
- The cake batter will look like rich caramel sauce in colour and consistency.
- Vegetable Oil: Coconut Oil, Grapseed Oil, Avocado Oil, or extra virgn Olive Oil can be substituted.
How To Make This Cake
- Preheat the oven and line the loaf tin with baking paper to prevent cake sticking.
- Prepare dry ingredients: Add flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix together.
- Prepare wet ingredients: Whisk granulated sweetener, eggs , date syrup and oil in a separate bowl until combined.
- Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients: Add flour mixture into the wet mixture. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the flour bowl, ensuring all the flour is nicely mixed into the wet ingredients.
- Add carrots and walnuts: stir through.
- Pour batter into loaf tin: smooth top with a spatula or spoon.
- Bake: for 65 minutes. (to test if cake is cooked, insert a skewer into the centre, and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, it's done).
- Cool at room temperature: Leave cake in the tin to cool on a wire rack.
- Remove cake from tin: peel away baking paper.
- Eat and Enjoy: Serve a slice of this delicious ginger cake with some butter, or a little whipped cream. Or on its own.
My Top Tip
Make sure your ground ginger is still fresh, otherwise it will have lost its ginger flavour. If you've had a bottle sitting in your spice rack for a year, its probably too old, and I'd recommend buying a fresh bottle of ground ginger to get a nice ginger kick with this cake.
Your Questions Answered
Cake should be stored in an air tight container at room temperature and will stay fresh for 3 days.
Yes. Slice it up and pop into ziplock bags and freeze for 4 weeks.
No. I wouldn't recommend it as fresh ginger has an entirely different taste to ground ginger, and once cooked will add a bitterness to the cake
Aside from addition ground ginger, you could also add a little ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and mixed spice, however the more "other spices" you add, the more you take away from the ginger flavour.
Instead of carrot you could use grated zucchini, or grated pumpkin.
Instead of walnuts, you could use crumbled pecans, or hazlenuts.
More Healthy Baking Recipes
- Low Carb Carrot Cake
- Sugar Free Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Healthy Date Loaf
- Coconut Yoghurt Cake with Coconut Glaze
- Dairy Free Banana Bread
- No Bake Ginger Slice
- Go to All Sugar Free Baking Recipes
Ginger Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (190g) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Bicarb Soda
- 4 teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup (170g) granulated sweetener that measures like sugar - (see note 1)
- 3 tablespoons Date Syrup
- 2 large eggs - (at room temperature)
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (190g) peeled and coarsely grated carrots
- ⅓ cup (80g) walnut pieces, roughly chopped or crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat fan forced oven to 150C/300F. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
- Add ¾ cup (190g) plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon Bicarb Soda, 4 teaspoons ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix together with a whisk until combined.
- Whisk ⅔ cup (170g) granulated sweetener that measures like sugar , 2 large eggs, 3 tablespoons Date Syrup and ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a separate bowl until combined.
- Add flour mixture into the wet mixture. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the flour bowl, ensuring all the flour is nicely mixed into the wet ingredients. (note: batter may appear a little firm at this stage, however the moisture from the carrots will loosen it up)
- Add in ¾ cup (190g) peeled and coarsely grated carrots and ⅓ cup (80g) walnut pieces, roughly chopped or crumbled and mix until combined.
- Pour batter into loaf tin, (greased and lined), smoothing the top with a spatula or spoon.
- Bake in the oven for 65 minutes. (to test if cake is cooked, insert a skewer into the centre, and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, it's done). Leave cake in the tin to cool on a wire rack.
- Remove cake from tin once cooled to room temperature, peeling away the baking paper.
- Cake should be stored in an air tight container at room temperature and will stay fresh for 3 days. Alternatively, slice it up and pop into ziplock bags and freeze for 4 weeks.
Notes
- Granulated Sweetener: Monkfruit Sweetener is my preferred natural sweetener for this recipe, however you could use any granulated sweetener that measures like sugar.
- Date Syrup: a natural sweetener made from blended or boiled dates, with a rich, caramel-like flavor and thick, pourable consistency. If you can't find it, maple syrup can be used instead.
- Bicarb Soda: make sure to remove all lumps before adding to the bowl of dry ingredients. To remove lumps, push down on them with a spoon to squash them to a powder.
- The cake batter will look like rich caramel sauce in colour and consistency.
- Vegetable Oil: Coconut Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Avocado Oil, or extra virgin Olive Oil can be substituted.
- Ground Ginger: Make sure your ground ginger is still fresh, otherwise it will have lost its ginger flavour. If you've had a bottle sitting in your spice rack for a year, its probably too old, and I'd recommend buying a fresh bottle of ground ginger to get a nice ginger kick with this cake.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
Anne says
I've made the ginger cake and it looks good (I've frozen it to have at my bookclub meeting on Saturday) but I battled a bit with the measuring. You gave the weight in grams as well as the cup measurements. I decided to go with the weight, but just out of interest I put my 190g of grated carrots into a measuring cup and it was well over a full cup, whereas it should have been 3/4 of a cup. I decided to guess and used most of my carrots. 3/4 of a cup of flour seemed a little too little so I went with the grams. Maybe it’s not a very ‘fussy’ recipe! I’ll certainly make it again, but I’d really be interested to know the proper amount of the ingredients.
I didn’t have date syrup so I used black strap molasses, which has a lovely almost bitter toffee flavour. I hope my cake will taste good.
Carmen says
Love this recipe - it’s so moist and delicious