Easy to make, this gingerbread cake has old-fashioned flavors of ginger and molasses. A rich, fluffy, and moist spiced cake to enjoy this holiday season.
Gingerbread cake reminds me of my grandmama. I believe I get my love for gingerbread from her. It wasn’t a holiday treat for her; she would make gingerbread any time she felt up to making it.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and usually crave salty snacks, but my one weakness in this world is gingerbread. I love gingerbread anything! However, I don’t have as much self-control as my grandmama did because I would eat my weight in glorious gingerbread cake! I only allow myself to have it around the holidays. It is my all-time favorite holiday treat.
I wish I could say this was my grandmama’s gingerbread cake recipe, but it isn’t. She always used the box kind since she was making it for herself most of the time, and the kind she got didn’t have large servings.
Easy to make, this gingerbread cake has old-fashioned flavors of ginger and molasses—a rich, fluffy, and moist spiced cake to enjoy this holiday season. Enjoy as a dessert or with a cup of morning coffee, like David enjoys his.
Let me show you how to make the gingerbread cake!
What is Gingerbread?
Gingerbread is any baked good that is flavored with the combination of spices of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread baked goods can vary in texture, from a soft, moist cake to hard gingerbread cookies and crisp like ginger snap cookies.
What is the difference between gingerbread cake and ginger cake? since the texture of gingerbread is a broad range of soft the crisp. Many refer to gingerbread cake as ginger cake as not to mislead anyone about its soft, moist, cake-like texture.
What Goes Into Gingerbread Cake?
A detailed list of ingredients is provided in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Dry Ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves.
- Wet Ingredients: melted unsalted butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, boiling water and egg.
- For Serving: Confectioners’ sugar gives the cake that snow-covered Christmas feeling, but it’s totally optional. Or dollup with some whipped cream.
How to Make Gingerbread Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-in square pan with butter and lightly flour and set aside. Use parchment paper for easy removal.
The recipe is pretty versatile, so if you don’t have a square 9-inch cake pan, you can usea round , rectangle, or even a cupcake pan to make cupcakes. Just make sure you grease the pan generously and coat lightly with flour. - Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk together the butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, and boiling water in a large bowl.
The molasses is very thick, and the butter needs to melt so it can be blended. The hot water is added to thin the molasses and melt the butter. Whisk until the butter has melted completely. This may take a minute or two. - When the mixture is lukewarm to touch, whisk in the egg until thoroughly combined. Adding the egg too soon will cause it to cool and solidify.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. When all the dry ingredients have been added to the wet ingredients, and there are no lumps, pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the edges are dark and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar (optional).
Note: It’s important to know that you cannot sift the gingerbread cake with powdered sugar and expect it to stay powdered and white. The cake is so moist that it soaks up the powdered sugar and melts it as though you had never even sifted it, so sift right before serving.
FAQ’s
What kind of molasses do I need?
Cooking molasses such as Grandma’s is the most common molasses. You can use blackstrap molasses also. The flavor is more intense, and it is very dark in color.
Regardless make sure you use unsulfhured molasses, which means the molasses is not treated with sulfur dioxide as a preservative. The sullphuring process can cause a strong chemical taste and is not as sweet.
How do you store gingerbread cake?
Store tightly sealed for up to 2-3 days at room temperature. It may keep a little longer in the refrigerator, but it will dry out faster.
Can I freeze gingerbread cake?
Absolutely. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap, and seal it tightly inside a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
This glorious gingerbread cake is so fluffy and good. I need to bake another cake before the season is out.
I hope you will bake this gingerbread cake and share it with your loved ones this holiday season. If you do, let us know what you think! Rate the recipe, comment below or even share a photo with us!
p.s. Want to add icing to you your gingerbread cake? Get a recipe for Orange Cream Cheese Frosting; click HERE!
Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup molasses
- ⅔ cup boiling water
- 1 large egg
- confectioners’ sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-in square cake pan with butter and lightly flour.
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, and boiling water until the butter is completely melted. When the mixture is lukewarm to touch, whisk in the egg until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. When all the dry ingredients have been added to the wet ingredients and there are no lumps, pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the edges are dark and a toothpick comes out clean.
Debbie - MountainMama says
I remember coming in from school and my mom would have baked a spice cake that day and the house would smell like heaven! Whenever I bake gingerbread it always reminds me of that. Spice cake is huge in Ireland, which is where my mom is from. This looks like a fantastic gingerbread recipe, I might just have to bake it for Christmas, Mountain Sister! I’m sure my brother in law from Ireland would love it!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hey, Mountain Sister! Love the memories of your spice cake!! I sure hope you will bake your brother some gingerbread. I think he’d love it! Have a great weekend!
Rachel says
Dude! We are so riding the same gingerbread waves!! Obsessed with this.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Girl we are riding those waves of molasses, ginger, cinnamon and cloves!!! <3
Julie says
I just love how food evokes memories and this cake looks like a keeper! I like gingerbread and don’t know why I save it only for the Christmas season.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Julie, if you are like me it’s the thighs…lol! Have a good weekend! 😉
mimi says
This looks so good. I seriously can smell it.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks, Mimi!
Cristina says
This looks so delicious. I am bookmarking the recipe. I love the photo with the mountains in the background. Yum.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hi Chirstinia! I’m glad you like the gingerbread cake recipe. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. From the looks of things you have some beautiful views of your own. 😉 Happy New Year!