Gingerbread Cake

I love baking with spices during the holidays. This moist and beautiful Gingerbread Cake is seriously one of my favorite things to bake in December. This one is made with ground spices, such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I love all the festive feels, the amazing cozy flavors, and just how moist the cake layers are. It is also very easy to make, believe it or not! You’ll love it.

I’m usually intimidated by cakes, but lots of practice and recipe testing have actually really made me love baking and decorating cakes! You get this feeling of satisfaction and fullness once you’re done. It feels so good and it’s very fun!

I made an amazing gingerbread cake last weekend and I felt so happy. It was almost like therapy! This gingerbread cake is moist and full of aromatic flavors, and frosted with the most delicious cream cheese frosting ever. So good!

The cake layers can and should be made 1-2 days ahead of time, and refrigerated. This will make sure that they are cold enough so that the frosting doesn’t melt when assembling the cake…meaning it’s a great make-ahead recipe!

I decorated my gingerbread layer cake with sugared cranberries and fresh sprigs of rosemary. Let me show you how to make the cake!

Ingredients Overview

Not going to lie, it is not a short ingredient list. You can find all the specific ingredient quantities and all that in the recipe card all the way below, but I wanted to provide and overview here:

For the gingerbread cake layers:

• Flour: I used all-purpose flour.
• Baking powder and baking soda: To help the cake rise and brown properly.
• Salt: To bring out the flavors.
• Ground ginger: The main spice in gingerbread cake. You’ll need about 1 tablespoon.
• Ground cinnamon: Also another main spice, about 1.5 teaspoons needed.
• Ground nutmeg: For additional aromatic flavors.
• Ground cloves: For additional aromatic flavors.
• Unsalted butter: It needs to be softened and at room temperature so that it can be creamed with the sugar.
• Light brown sugar: For sweetness. I used light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar will work too.
• Molasses: For that distinctive and deep molasses flavor in gingerbread.
• Eggs: To give the cake structure.
• Vanilla extract: For flavor.
• Whole milk: For moisture and fat.

For the cream cheese frosting:

• Cream cheese: Use whole fat cream cheese for best results, softened.
• Unsalted butter: It has to be softened so you can whip it with the softened cream cheese.
• Confectioner’s sugar: For sweetness and body.
• Vanilla extract: For flavor.
• A pinch of salt: To bring out the flavors.

To decorate the cake:

I used fresh rosemary sprigs and sugared cranberries to decorate my gingerbread cake. For the sugared cranberries, you only need fresh whole cranberries and granulated sugar. More info in the recipe card!

How To Make Gingerbread Cake

There are 3 parts to making this gingerbread layer cake: 1) baking the cake layers, 2) making the cream cheese frosting, and 3) assembling and decorating it.

It does take time, but it is pretty straightforward. Definitely a weekend project!

Below is an overview of the entire process broken into sections. The specific recipe instructions can be found in the recipe card below per usual.

Bake the Cake Layers

1. Prepare the pans: I used two 9-inch round pans. Butter the pan. Cut out parchment paper circles to line the bottom.
2. Cream the softened butter and sugar: This will aerate the mixture and help your cake layers rise beautifully. It will also make them less prone to getting dense.
3. Add the eggs: One at a time to make sure they properly mix.
4. Add the dry ingredient mix and the milk: Alternating, to make sure both get evenly and properly added to the batter. You should have an evenly mixed batter at this point. This batter shouldn’t be too thin or too thick…just somewhere in between.
5. Bake! At 350 degrees F. 20 minutes after they are out of the oven, carefully remove them from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Wrap each one with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Mix the cream cheese and unsalted butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the powdered sugar on low speed. Then increase to medium high speed and mix until light, fluffy, and creamy.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract and salt.

I would not recommend making the frosting ahead of time. You want it to be soft and creamy so you can frost the gingerbread cake easily. This means that it needs to be made right before frosting. Making the frosting ahead would necessitate refrigerating it, which would harden it and change the texture.

Assemble the Cake and Decorate

Now that you have the cake layers and the cream cheese frosting make, all you have to do is frost the cake and decorate it! You can decorate it however you want. I went for a simple rustic style, and added sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs on top.

Tools I’d recommend to assemble the cake: cake stand and an offset spatula. I also ran a bench scraper to straighten the sides a little bit (optional).

Make The Cake Layers Ahead

I’d highly recommend baking the cake layers the day before so that the cake has enough time to cool completely. Frosting a warm cake, even if it’s slightly warm, would most certainly result in disaster. The frosting will melt. Definitely plan ahead and don’t rush!

I like to refrigerate the cake layers so that they are somewhat firm. It will make assembling and frosting the cake SO much easier. Don’t worry, it won’t turn out dry! Just wrap the baked cake layers with plastic wrap before refrigerating (wait for them to cool on cooling racks before wrapping though).

Tips for Frosting the Cake

• Decorate your cake on a cake stand, so you don’t have to move it later.
• Put 4 pieces of parchment paper on the cake stand before assembling the cake, kinda forming an overlapping square on the edges of the cake stand. This way, you can pull out the parchment paper after you’re done frosting, and not have any messes on the cake stand.
• Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting.

Decorating The Cake

Decorate the cake however you want! I decorated mine with sugared cranberries and fresh rosemary sprigs.

Other ideas to decorate the cake:

• Use gingerbread cookies or your favorite holiday sugar cookies
• Top with praline pecans
• Use cranberries and rosemary to form a “wreath”

I just love this gingerbread cake so much! It is definitely not a quick recipe, but it sure is satisfying to finish it.

The cake layers can and should be made ahead of time, and stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. The frosting is all about mixing. Then…the fun part: assembling and decorating!

Make this amazing gingerbread cake for the holidays. Your house will smell absolutely amazing and feel so cozy. Happy baking!

More delicious holiday baking ideas:

• Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
• Apple Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
• Pumpkin Cake Roll
• Pecan Pie Bars
• Lemon Ricotta Cookies
• Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies