Learn how to make the best gingerbread cake with this easy recipe. You don't need a mixer to make this moist gingerbread cake, sweetened with molasses and dark brown sugar and flavoured with lots of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. This simple Christmas cake is great topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and lemon curd.
My mom used to make a gingerbread loaf cake that she served with a lemon sauce in wintertime. This gingerbread snacking cake topped with cream cheese frosting and lemon curd is my ode to the unusual yet wonderful combination of gingerbread and lemon.
The gingerbread cake recipe is based on this maple cinnamon cake, which is also very simple to make. The mixing method and the texture of the cake batter are very similar to the one-bowl chocolate cake, which makes a very fluid cake batter that bakes into a very moist cake, just like this one!
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Ingredients
This is a classic gingerbread made from a simple list of ingredients, heavy on molasses and warm spices. Here's what you need to make this gingerbread cake:
- flour—I made this cake with bleached all-purpose flour, but unbleached should work fine
- spices—I used a combination of dry spices that are typically found in gingerbread cookies, specifically, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves
- leavening agents—this cake is made with baking soda, which contributes to the colour of the cake, the rise, and also the flavour
- fats—I used a combination of unsalted butter and canola oil to help give this taste a moist texture with a buttery flavour
- sugar—I used dark brown sugar to add even more molasses flavour to the cake
- eggs—I always bake cakes with large eggs at room temperature so that they mix better into the batter
- salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt. If using table salt, you may want to add half the amount to avoid the cake being too salty
- molasses—use Fancy molasses, not blackstrap molasses which may have a stronger flavour that won't work well in this recipe
- milk—I used whole milk (3.25 % fat). I don't recommend fat-free milk, though it will technically work fine
- topping options (optional but definitely worth it!)—white chocolate cream cheese frosting (without icing sugar) and lemon curd (preferably homemade), thick cream cheese frosting, salted caramel sauce
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
Gingerbread is a very specific dessert, but you still have some options if you'd like to make changes. Here are a few ingredients you can vary:
- Without molasses - instead of molasses, add maple syrup or honey. The flavour and colour of the cake may be different (like in this maple cinnamon cake)
- Spices - I went heavy with the cinnamon and ginger, and added quite a bit of nutmeg, allspice and cloves. You can play with the amounts and also add in different spices. Many people like to add ground pepper to gingerbread, for example (either white or black pepper or both), or even ground anise seed. Get creative!
Instructions
Like classic gingerbread cutout cookies, this cake starts by melting the butter with the sugar and molasses, before adding the eggs (and other liquids), and finally the dry ingredients. This is very similar to a two-bowl mixing method, like for muffins. Here's how to make this cake:
Step 1—Combine the molasses, brown sugar, butter, and canola oil in a small saucepan (image 1) and heat it on medium–low to melt the butter and help mix the ingredients (image 2).
Note: Don't boil this! The goal isn't to thicken or evaporate the mixture in any way. We want a little heat to incorporate the ingredients better but not too much.
Step 2—Whisk the eggs with the salt in a large bowl before adding the melted butter and molasses mixture and the milk (image 3). Whisk until evenly combined (image 4)
Step 3—Meanwhile, whisk the dry ingredients together (image 5) to get the spices evenly incorporated then transfer them to a sieve set over the bowl of wet ingredients (image 6) to remove any lumps of spice (image 7). Whisk to form a fluid cake batter (image 8).
Note: the baking soda will start to react and the mixture will fizzle and bubble a little. This is normal.
Step 4—Transfer the cake batter to a prepared 9x9 cake pan (image 9) and bake until set (image 10).
Remember, there are many ways to check if a cake is done baking so use a few. I like to use a cake tester and insert it in the centre of the cake to check if it's done baking. I also look for signs like the edges of the cake pulling away from the pan.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting. For this recipe, I topped the cake with this white chocolate cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar (which is what I did here), but you can also frost it with a classic thick cream cheese frosting.
You can also skip the cream cheese frosting and serve it with dollops of homemade lemon curd or drizzle pieces with a delicious salted caramel sauce. Lightly sweetened whipped cream is also an excellent topping for this cake that you can whip up in minutes.
Top Tip
Don't overmix the cake batter! This gingerbread batter is very liquidy and you will likely notice a few tiny lumps of flour that don't quite mix or blend in. That's okay! They will bake into the cake and essentially disappear!
Gingerbread FAQs
The excessive amount of baking soda in ginger cakes does a few things. Firstly, it will react in the slightly acidic cake batter to help your cake rise. It will also act as a tenderizer, and it will contribute to the deep brown colour that we expect from gingerbread. The high amount of baking soda also lends a certain flavour to the cake. Some recipes will go even higher in baking soda—I've seen recipes with 2 teaspoons (10 mL of baking soda) for this amount of batter. They are even darker and have a more distinct flavour that some love but some don't appreciate as much.
I have kept the amount of baking soda in this gingerbread cake recipe fairly low compared to most recipes. I would not reduce it further because it will impact texture, rise, colour and flavour. You can reduce the amount in other recipes, but this would require some testing to validate that this works. You may also want to compensate by replacing the baking soda with baking powder to ensure a good rise.
I don't store cakes in the fridge unless they are frosted with a frosting that may be unstable. If you decide to frost it, this cake can sit at room temperature for up to a day (or overnight), but if you want to store it for any longer, place it in the refrigerator (preferably covered). Bring it back up to room temperature before serving.
Other Gingerbread Recipes and More Christmas Baking
If you are a fan of gingerbread, give this gingerbread cutout cookies recipe a try, as well as these slice-and-bake gingerbread cookies, soft stamped gingerbread cookies or these molasses cookies (heavy on the molasses but without the spices).
If you are looking for other Christmas recipes to bake this holiday season, try these:
If you tried this recipe for moist gingerbread cake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 190 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 7.5 mL ground cinnamon
- 7.5 mL ground ginger
- 3.75 mL baking soda
- 2.5 mL ground nutmeg
- 1.25 mL ground allspice
- 1.25 mL ground cloves
- 255 grams Fancy molasses
- 100 grams dark brown sugar
- 80 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 45 mL canola oil
- 2 large egg(s) room temperature
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 250 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) I don't recommend fat free
Suggested toppings and garnishes (optional)
- 1 batch white chocolate cream cheese frosting
- 125 mL lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Prepare a 9-inch (23-cm) square metal pan by greasing and flouring. Line the bottom of the pan with a square of parchment paper to make it easy to unmould it. Set aside.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
- In a small saucepan, combine the molasses, brown sugar, butter, and oil. Heat it on medium–low, just warm enough to melt the butter and get all the ingredients well mixed. Do not boil! Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt to loosen them up, then add the warm (not hot) butter and molasses mixture, as well as the milk. Whisk everything together until really well mixed.
- Sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients to remove any lumps and whisk them into the wet ingredients. The batter will be very fluid, the baking soda will start to fizz and bubble a little, and there may be a few very small lumps of flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake will also pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving.
Notes
- You can enjoy the cake as is without any toppings, but if you can, definitely serve it with lemon curd (homemade lemon curd is better but store-bought will work) and this white chocolate cream cheese frosting is also excellent with this cake. You can also serve it with salted caramel sauce if you prefer.
- I baked this cake in a 9x9 OXO gold pan which has a non-stick finish so I skipped the flour when preparing the pan but still butter the bottom and sides and line the bottom with parchment to make unmoulding and serving neater. If your pan doesn't have a non-stick finish, flour the sides of the pan before pouring the batter inside.
- For the spices, I love to add lots of ginger and cinnamon as well as nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Some will also add ground black pepper or white pepper to give the cake a little spicy punch. It's really up to you the spices you use.
- You can replace the molasses with honey or maple syrup. Both will work, but the flavour and colour of the cake will be markedly different.
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