Vegan Gingerbread Roll Cake

I made some gingerbread cookies a few weeks back, and ever since then I have been craving the flavor in the form of cake.  Not that there is anything wrong with cookies, but I am a cake kind of girl!  I was thinking a gingerbread layer cake with vegan "cream cheese" frosting, revamping one of my old recipes I had made a few weeks back.  But then the week got a bit hectic, it is Christmas time after all, and I have a lot going on.  So I decided that a rolled cake would be easier and simpler to make than a frosted cake, but just as delicious.  I guess this is the year of the rolled cake for me.  I made a pumpkin roll cake in the fall and a chocolate roll cake for Eric's birthday last month, and now I decided to make one again.  What can I say?  I fell in love with them.  They are so much faster to make than a layered one that I have to take the time to carefully frost.

For the base, I used my date sweetened cake batter to start.  I know it is a nice soft cake that bends a little more than one sweetened with sugar so it is perfect for this!  Plus, I just like sweetening things with dates in general.  They are nature's candy after all, like little caramels, and they give the cake a caramel flavor.  Next, I added gingerbread spices, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and it smelled amazing.  I also added in a little molasses because it is kind of essential for classic gingerbread flavor as far as I am concerned.

The cake baked up beautifully and my kitchen smelled amazing!  I had to make an equally as delicious filling for it.  I used a mixture of full fat coconut milk and raw cashew butter to make it nice and creamy to mimic a real cream cheese frosting.  I think it is actually even better than the real stuff honestly.  I sweetened it with a bit of maple syrup and vanilla and it was heavenly!

It spread nicely onto the cooled cake and I was very pleased with how it rolled.  I let it chill overnight because by then it was pretty late and I knew it would slice nicer, so I had to wait until after work the next day to try it.  It was well worth the wait though!  I dusted it with a bit of coconut powdered sugar and it was lovely!  It was heavenly with the sweet and spicy soft gingerbread cake and creamy luscious cream cheese frosting!  This would be the perfect finale to your holiday meal, so if you are a gingerbread fan, definitely give this a try!

Vegan Gingerbread Roll Cake
Makes one 15 inch long roll cake

Ingredients:

10x15 inch jelly roll pan

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups packed soft medjool dates, pitted, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
• 1/4 cup almond butter or your preferred nut butter (just make sure it is smooth)
• 1 Tbsp molasses
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups filtered water
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling:

• 1 15 oz can organic full fat coconut milk, such as Thai Kitchen chilled (you want to make sure it is a brand that is 3/4 of the can cream or it will not work)
• 1/2 cup raw cashew butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp melted coconut butter (NOT OIL), warmed to liquid

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and position rack in center of oven.
2. Line a 15 x 10 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper.
3. Whisk flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a large bowl to blend well.  Set aside.
4. Place dates, water, almond butter, molasses, and vanilla extract into a blender, and blend until smooth, then whisk this blended mixture into the flour mixture until well blended. Whisk in the cider vinegar until bubbles form.
5. Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes.
6. Cool cake completely.
7. To make the filling, combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth.
8. Pour into a bowl and place in the freezer until the consistency of stiffly whipped cream (about 30-45 minutes depending on how warm it has gotten.  Once it is ready place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
9. When ready to assemble, spread filling over the top of the cake, then roll up jellyroll style starting with the short side and using the parchment to assist you in rolling.  Be careful because the cake is fragile, but if it cracks as you roll it no worries, keep rolling.  Let chill in the freezer once rolled for a few hours before topping with the powdered coconut sugar.

*If you would like to make this gluten free, swap the whole wheat flour for Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour (I have tested this brand and know it works, but have not tried other brands so I am not sure if they would turn out the same).