Gingernut Cake
This one brings back serious nostalgia for us. Gingernut biscuits were a staple growing up, and turning them into a proper cake felt like such a good idea when we first tried it. You get that warm, spiced ginger flavour running through every bite, with little crunchy biscuit pieces baked right into the batter. It's the kind of thing that makes your whole kitchen smell incredible. Honestly, if you're looking for a weekend bake that's dead easy to pull off and genuinely wows people, make this one tonight.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- 2x20cm cake tins greased & lined with baking paper
- 2 mixing bowls
- Food processor
- Cooling rack
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 180g plain flour
- 180g whole wheat flour (or more plain flour)
- 100g light brown sugar
- 200g white sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tbsp ground ginger
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 140ml melted coconut oil
- 2 ripe bananas
- 250ml plant-based milk
- 6 ginger nut biscuits
- 50g ginger nut biscuits
- 60g plant-based butter
- 2 tbsp plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tbsp ground ginger
- 450g icing sugar
- 6 ginger nut biscuits
- Handful cacao nibs or chocolate chips (optional)
Method
Prepare the dry and wet ingredients
- Pour the flours, sugars, salt, powdered ginger and baking powder into a mixing bowl and mix to combine
- In the second bowl, mash the banana
- Pour the melted coconut oil and plant based milk into the bowl
Finish the cake batter and bake
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a spatula to combine
- Roughly break 6 of the ginger nut biscuits into small pieces, add them to the bowl and fold them into the mixture
- Transfer the mixture into the cake tin, put the tins in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden, well risen and a skewer comes out clean
Whilst the cake is baking, make the frosting
- Put the remaining ginger nut biscuits in a food processor and blitz them into a fine powder
- Add the dairy-free butter, dairy-free milk and maple syrup to the processor and blitz them until everything comes together
- Add the icing sugar and ground ginger to the processor and blitz into a thick frosting consistency
Assemble and serve
- Take the cake out of the oven, transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool down to room temperature
- Cut the rounded top off one of the cakes and spread or pipe half the icing on top
- Put the second cake on top of the first and repeat the spreading stage until all the frosting has been used
- Break the remaining decorative ginger nut biscuits into smaller pieces and decorate the cake to your taste along with a sprinkling of cacao nibs or chocolate chips, if you like
- Cut the cake into 8 slices and serve immediately with a cup of tea
Tips & Variations
- Don't over-mix the batter: Once you've combined the wet and dry ingredients, fold gently until just combined. Over-mixing can make the cake dense and a bit tough, and we want it light and tender.
- Riper bananas are better here: The riper the banana the sweeter and more flavourful the batter will be. Those spotty ones you've been avoiding in the fruit bowl are absolutely perfect for this.
- Make it extra gingery: If you're a proper ginger fan like us, don't be shy with the powdered ginger. You can also add a handful of finely chopped crystallised ginger into the batter for little bursts of intense flavour throughout.
Why This Works
The trick here is using banana in the batter. It does two jobs at once: it binds everything together without eggs, and it adds this subtle sweetness that plays really well against the heat of the ginger. We also fold broken gingernut biscuits into the mix before baking, so you get these little pockets of texture throughout that make each slice feel special.