GINGERBREAD LAYER CAKE RECIPE

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So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe, flavored with ginger and molasses, will definitely get you in the holiday spirit!

 

So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

You may be most familiar with Gingerbread baked goods in the form of Gingerbread cookies and houses. Gingerbread cookies are all the rage at Christmas.

So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

Why Gingerbread at Christmas?

Gingerbread can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians and was considered sacred. It made an appearance in Europe when 11th-century Crusaders brought back ginger from the Middle East for the aristocrats’. Gingerbread was sacred and expensive therefore the only time it was made by the general public was during Christmas and Easter.

Additionally, the gingerbread house became popular in Germany after the fairy tale, “Hansel and Gretel” was published in the 19th century. Early German settlers in America brought the gingerbread house tradition with them.

Do you make Gingerbread cookies or house at Christmas?

So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe

If you like Gingerbread Cookies, you’ll love this cake. It has a nice, mild, warm gingerbread flavor. I topped it with a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Traditionally, ginger is paired with cloves, nutmeg, or cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. I used ground cinnamon in my cake and sweetened it with molasses.

This cake paired with creamy frosting makes it a sweet sensation! However, if you don’t like really sweet desserts, this cake tastes amazing without any frosting. We like it served warm with butter melted over the top. If I don’t plan to frost it, I bake it in a 9×13-inch baking pan.

So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

In testing this recipe, I found that, like chocolate, gingerbread bakes slightly faster than other cakes.

  • For two 8-inch cake layers, I baked them for 27 minutes.
  • If you have three 8-inch cake layers, they’ll bake in approximately 25 minutes.

Cake Making Tips

These helpful tips will ensure a delectable cake every time you bake:

  • Read the recipe through twice before starting.
  • After reading through your recipe, get out all the ingredients and equipment that you need to prepare the cake.
  • Measure all the ingredients carefully. Extra sugar or leavening causes a cake to fall; extra flour makes it dry.
  • Did you know when a recipe calls for eggs, it refers to using large eggs? If you have small or extra-large eggs, you will need to adjust the amount you use. Here’s an egg size substitution chart for reference.
  • Have ingredients at room temperature for maximum volume.
  • Calibrate your oven to check for temperature accuracy.
  • Grease and flour your pan thoroughly or use Wilton Cake Release to prevent sticking.
  • Shiny, dark, and glass pans cook differently. Know your pans and adjust accordingly. Dark pans cook the outside of the cake faster than shiny pans or glass pans.
  • Don’t let the pans touch each other in the oven and don’t let them touch the walls of the oven.
  • As well, allow your cake to cool completely before frosting. You can even refrigerate the layers before icing them.
  • Most cakes freeze well as long as you wrap it in airtight plastic wrap. Typically, I wrap them in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil.
  • Finally, I allow the cake to defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
  •  

So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

While you’re here, try some of these classic recipes!

  1. Caramel Pie
  2. Chocolate Pie
  3. Pecan Pie
  4. Fig Preserve Pound Cake
  5. Chess Pie
  6. Buttermilk Pie
  7. Butter Roll
  8. No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
  9. Cornbread Dressing
  10. Squash Casserole
  11. Old Fashioned Blue Ribbon Pound Cake
  12. Southern Layered Jam Cake
So tasty and delicious, Gingerbread Layer Cake

Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe

This Gingerbread Cake is rich and delicious. It's flavored with ginger and molasses then frosted with cream cheese frosting.
Author: Paula
4.80 from 5 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients

CAKE

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted then measured correctly
  • 1 and ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 and ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup butter at room temperature
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 cup water

FROSTING

  • 12 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • ¾ cup butter real butter, not margarine
  • 3 tablespoon maple syrup or molasses
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 6 cup powdered sugar sifted

Instructions

CAKE

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening and flour or Wilton Cake release.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda together.
  • In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Add molasses and eggs. Beat until well combined. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides.
  • With the mixer on low, add the flour alternately with the water. (I add 1/3 flour, 1/2 water, 1/3 flour, 1/2 water, and final 1/3 flour.) Mix well between each addition. Stop mixer and scrape sides, mix again to combine everything.
  • Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 27 to 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with dry crumbs. Cool on a wire rack.
  • Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes before inverting on wire racks to cool completely.

FROSTING

  • In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until combined.
  • Add maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. Beat on low until well combined.
  • With the mixer on low add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix until well combined and creamy before adding the next cup of sugar. If it starts to get too thick to be spreadable you can cut back on the sugar or you can add a little whole milk or (I prefer) heavy cream.

FROST CAKE

  • Once the cake has cooled completely, frost the cake.
  • Level the cake layers if necessary. Frost cake.
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 634kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 336mg | Potassium: 427mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 73g | Vitamin A: 940IU | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 2mg
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3 Comments

  1. Have you made this cake in a Bundt pan! I love you pound cakes, I have made many! I love you recipes.

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I haven’t tested it but you could. I would bake it at 325 degrees F for 60 to 70 minutes You want want to start watching it about 50 minutes.

      Reply

  2. 4 stars
    This is very yummy. Husband loved it too. I did find that it needed to be cooked much longer. I could of done with half the frosting. Also very yummy

    Reply

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Your email address will not be published. Have you tried this recipe? Consider giving it 5 stars!