How To Make A Gingerbread Cake Recipe
A gingerbread cake recipe is one we should have in our repertoire. Come the holidays (or anytime for that matter), it is nice to sit down with a moist cake that is full of warm, spicy flavors. The molasses notes with ginger and clove topped with a cream cheese frosting make one of the best cakes ever. Gingerbread cookies are good, but they don’t satisfy as well. It seems to me that gingerbread cake is less work because there is no rolling and cutting of dough involved. Just a slathering of frosting and you are on your way to cake eating.
How To Make A Gingerbread Cake Recipe – The Simple Technique
Gingerbread cake recipes follow a pretty standard cake procedure. There really is not anything particularly special about baking them. The wet and dry ingredients are mixed separately and then blended together. One difference is the use of molasses or honey. Using syrups help make gingerbread moist and more dense. Using molasses brings a lot of deep flavors with it that makes a good flavor foundation for the spices. I have added a second gingerbread cake recipe that more closely represent a quick bread. The butter is first cut into flour (not typical in a quick bread, but I think it makes a more tender cake) then the wet ingredients are mixed and added directly to the dry. There is no use of a hand mixer and the eggs are just put right in. Both make great cakes, it just depends on whether or not ou want to spend the time cutting the butter into the flour.
How To Make A Gingerbread Cake Recipe – The Frosting
The deep flavors of a gingerbread cake also do well with a cream cheese frosting. The tanginess brings out more of the nuances in the spices. A nice addition to the cream cheese frosting is fresh ginger. The gingery heat with the sweetness of the frosting adds nicely to the cake. The first bite is the molasses, then a little heat then creamy goodness!
Here are my gingerbread cake recipes…
How To Make A Gingerbread Cake Recipe – The Gallery
The ‘How To Make Gingerbread Cake’ video is below. It gives you all the steps outlined in the second recipe. The recipes are pretty similar. The big difference is how the butter is handled. The second recipe highlights the cutting of butter into flour. Both gingerbread cake recipes make a delicious cakes. The full recipes follow the video.
- Butter and flour for the pan
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tbsp of ground ginger
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of cardamom
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper
- 1/2 tsp of clove
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/2 cup of butter, softened
- 1 cup of light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 piece of fresh ginger about 2 inches long (1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger is needed)
- 2 tbsp of butter softened
- 6 oz of cream cheese
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients until they are well mixed.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or whisk, cream the butter and brown sugar together until the sugar is well incorporated.
- Add the molasses and mix well.
- Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg individually.
- Add the milk and mix well.
- With the mixer on low or with the whisk, slowly incorporated the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Blend the dry and wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan.
- Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes or until a knife that has been inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Using a paring knife, peel the ginger.
- Using a fine rasp, grate the ginger.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer or whisk, mix together the cream cheese and butter.
- Mix in the sugar.
- Add a tbsp of the grated ginger. Mix well.
- Allow the cake to cool completely. Frost the top of the cake. Remove the side of the springform pan.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
- Butter and flour for the pan
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 tbsp of ground ginger
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of cardamom
- 1/2 tsp of black pepper
- 1/2 tsp of clove
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/2 cup of cold butter, cubed
- 1 cup of light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 piece of fresh ginger about 2 inches long (1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger is needed)
- 2 tbsp of butter softened
- 6 oz of cream cheese
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients until they are well mixed.
- Add the cold butter cubes. Using your fingers, a pastry cutter or a food processor, cut the butter into the flour until it is full incorporated and is sandy in texture.
- In a large bowl, using a fork, mix the brown sugar, molasses, eggs, milk and vanilla and mix well until everything is incorporated.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan.
- Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes or until a knife that has been inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Using a paring knife, peel the ginger.
- Using a fine rasp, grate the ginger.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer or whisk, mix together the cream cheese and butter.
- Mix in the sugar.
- Add a tbsp of the grated ginger. Mix well.
- Allow the cake to cool completely. Frost the top of the cake. Remove the side of the springform pan.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
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This post was originally published in 2015. It has been updated with a video and the recipes have been refined.
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