Gingerbread Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
If you are looking for a show-stopper of a dessert for Christmas dinner then you must try this classic Gingerbread Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s an extra moist gingerbread cake that is full of wonderful spices, and the lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting is oh-so delicious!
Looking for something more chocolatey for Christmas? Try my equally festive Chocolate Christmas Bundt Cake Recipe.
What is in Gingerbread Cake?
- Classic gingerbread recipes include molasses and a variety of spices.
- The best spice blend for gingerbread includes these spices and is very similar to the spices I use in my Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies too.
- Ground Ginger
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Nutmeg
- Ground Allspice
- Ground Cloves
- The warming spices of gingerbread pair beautifully with the cool, soft flavor of cream cheese. Similar to a Classic Carrot Cake.
The Secret to An Extra Moist Cake
- It’s the buttermilk! The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to create more air bubbles in the batter. The more air bubbles there are the bigger and better rise on the cake.
- The buttermilk also helps to tenderize the gluten in the flour which also creates a more tender cake!
- Can’t find buttermilk? You can make it at home! Just place 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of plain white vinegar in a measuring cup, and fill the rest with whole milk. Stir and then let it sit for 5 minutes and then use as directed in the recipe.
- I also use vegetable oil, instead of butter, which I find leads to a more moist cake.
Step#1: Prepare the Pans
- This gingerbread is so moist and delicate that it requires treating the cake pans with both baking spray and parchment paper rounds.
- Spray the pan well with the baking spray first, and distribute it with a pastry brush to cover the bottom and sides.
- Then cut the parchment paper rounds out and fit those inside. I know it’s an extra step, but you’ll be so glad you did when your cake layers pop out and all you have to do is peel back the parchment paper (see below).
- If you don’t add the parchment paper your cake will be stuck to the bottom of the pan!
Step#2: Mix the Wet + Dry Ingredients
- What you’ll love most about this recipe is the fact that it is a two-bowl operation.
- First, you’ll mix up the wet ingredients with the molasses, sugar, buttermilk, oil, and eggs.
- Then mix up the dry ingredients. I use regular all-purpose flour and still get a fantastic crumb (thanks to the buttermilk!) so there’s no need for cake flour.
- Combine the dry with the wet and that’s all there is to it!
Step#3: Pour into Pans
- Then pour the batter into the pans, distributing it equally between the two pans.
- You’ll be able to tell you’re about half way once the batter reaches the edges of the pan.
- Do this for both pans and then split the difference of any remaining batter between the two pans equally.
Step#4: Peel off the Parchment
- Once the cakes have cooled you can either place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting or place them on the cake stand one at a time.
- Do not try and decorate this cake if these layers are even slightly warm or the frosting will melt and slide off!
- I also like to place the cakes upside down so the bottoms are up. This will give you a nice flat surface to decorate upon.
- If cooling your cakes on a rack, I highly recommend moving them with a cake lifter. It’s light a big spatula for moving cakes!
Step#5: Frost the Layers
- Once the frosting is made, transfer it to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
- Then pipe little mounds of frosting, around the size of a Hershey’s Kiss, completely covering the first layer.
- Then place the second layer gently on top, and pipe the frosting on the second layer.
Step#7: Decorate!
- You can decorate your cake with rosemary sprigs, and fresh cranberries.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator, uncovered, until ready to serve.
- Then right before serving, dust the whole cake with powdered sugar for a fun snowy look!
Gingerbread Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield:
serves 8
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup (240ml) molasses
- 1 cup (212g) white sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240ml) of buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp (4g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2.5ml) kosher salt
- 2 tsp (10ml) ground ginger
- 2 tsp (10ml) ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp (5ml) ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp (1.25ml) allspice
- ¼ tsp (1.25ml) ground cloves
For the Frosting:
- 24 ounces (680g) whipped cream cheese
- 8 ounces (226g) regular cream cheese
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp (30ml) + 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp (3.75ml) ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp (2.5ml) ground nutmeg
For the Garnish:
- Dusting of Powdered Sugar
- 7-10 Rosemary sprigs
- 6-8 whole raw fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray two 9” (23cm) cake pans with baking spray. Then line each pan with a 9” round of parchment paper (Place the pan on 2 sheets of parchment and trace it with a pencil and then cut out the circles.) Set the prepared pans aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking gently in between each addition, until combined.
- Pour the batter into each pan, and bake for 23-25 or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely.
- For the frosting: beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Then add the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat until smooth. Transfer half the frosting to a pastry bag with a round tip ½” (1.27cm) in diameter.
- Remove the first cake payer from the pan, and place it on a cooling rack, upside down. Gently remove the parchment paper and transfer the cake with a cake lifter to a cake stand. A wooden cake stand looks nice! Pipe small “Hershey Kiss Size” dollops all around the perimeter of the cake working from the outside in until the full layer is covered.
- Remove the parchment paper of the second layer and place the second layer on top of the first. Pipe small little mounds of frosting all around the top layer.
- Place in the refrigerator uncovered until ready to serve.
- Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving to come up to remove temperature.This will create a smoother, lighter texture for the frosting Then dust the top with powdered sugar for a snowy effect. Add the rosemary sprigs to the base, overlapping around the cake, and add cranberries here and there in groupings of 2 and 3.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 663Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 165mgSodium: 480mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 3gSugar: 27gProtein: 13g
This is just the recipe I was looking for. Thank you. Question, am I seeing the sodium serving info correctly? 480mg? Can I ask where is that coming from? And any suggestions on how to reduce that? Im hopibg to make this for diabetes parents 😊 They would love this recipe! Much appreciated.
I’m so glad you brought this to my attention! I did some research because I wasn’t sure why it was so high either! And while 1 cup of buttermilk has 150mg of sodium, the real culprit is the baking soda! One teaspoon has 1,259mg of sodium! I wouldn’t omit the buttermilk since it really adds to the lovely texture, but I think you’d be OK to swap the baking soda for the baking powder which has a lot less sodium (488 mg of sodium in 1 teaspoon). I use the baking soda because of the way it reacts with the acid in the buttermilk, creating little air bubbles that make the cake light and fluffy, but I bet it would still be pretty good with the baking powder too 🙂 I hope that helps! Happy Holidays!
Cake looks great, thank you! I have no whipped cream cheese where I leave, just the regular Philadelphia. Could I add some whipped cream?