Classic Gingerbread Cake Recipe

This gingerbread cake recipe is the BEST. It is quick, easy, and full of warm gingerbread spices. This moist and delicious cake gets a ton of flavor from molasses and a cup of strong brewed tea.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my gingerbread biscotti and my old fashioned gingerbread loaf recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my gingerbread recipes in one place.

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Gingerbread Cake Recipe

This Newfoundland gingerbread is much loved by our family. Gingerbread can be quite heavy and dense, but not this one. It is so light and fluffy that it practically melts in your mouth.

I bake my Nan’s gingerbread every Christmas. It just doesn’t feel like the holidays without it. The other cake that I make every year is my clementine cake.

Ingredients

If you have a fairly well-stocked pantry, you probably have everything you need to make this gingerbread cake recipe right now.

• All purpose flour – The regular flour you have in the pantry.
• Baking powder and baking soda – These help our cake rise.
• Spices – Give our gingerbread cake tons of flavor.
• Salt – All baked goods need salt, I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
• Vanilla – A baking staple.
• Eggs – Eggs provide stability and structure.
• Butter – Unsalted, or “sweet cream” butter. Make sure it is unsalted so you can control the salt. Provides great flavor to baked goods.
• Oil – Helps to keep baked goods moist.
• Brown sugar – Has a deeper flavor than regular sugar, thanks to molasses.
• Molasses – Gives gingerbread an unmistakable flavor.

How to make it

First, gather all of your ingredients. Measure everything out ahead of time. This is your “mise-en-place“. You want to make sure you have everything you need BEFORE you begin.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Then, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I let this go for a full 5 minutes.

Then add the flour and wet ingredients to the bowl. I like to fold in the remaining flour by hand with a rubber spatula. As I’m doing this, I make sure to scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is fully incorporated before I pour the batter into the pan.

Finally, fill the prepared pan and use a small offset spatula to smooth the top before sliding it into the oven to bake.

How to bake a flat cake

The dreaded domed cake. It can be really frustrating when you are trying to bake a flat sheet cake and it inevitably comes out with a rounded top.

First tip – lower the oven temperature. I’ve always followed directions and baked at 350°F as stated in the recipe. That’s fine, sometimes. But, other times, when you want to ensure a nice level cake, you need to drop the temperature a bit.

Second tip: use cake strips or DIY them. I cut up an old dish towel and clipped it to the pan with binder clips. I also use binder clips to secure parchment paper inside the cake pan.

Run the cake strips or cut up strips of towel under water, then wring them out. You want them damp, but not dripping wet. Wrap them around your pan and secure them before baking your cake.

Frequently asked questions

Variations and substitutions

Try mixing either fresh or dried fruits into the batter. My grandmother occasionally added fresh blueberries to this gingerbread.

Use the cream cheese frosting from my cream cheese cupcakes to top the cake if you prefer a frosted gingerbread sheet cake.

Serving suggestions

This gingerbread cake recipe is so good, all it needs is a dusting of powdered sugar. A dollop of barely sweetened whipped cream wouldn’t be bad, either. To make it extra special, serve this cake with a crème anglaise.

Helpful tools and equipment

• 9 x 13 cake pan
• cake strips
• parchment paper
• stand mixer

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Gingerbread Cake Recipe

Cheryl Bennett

A delicious and easy gingerbread cake recipe to feed a crowd. Perfect for the holiday season!

4.82 from 16 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Additional Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Cake recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 16 people

Calories 343 kcal

Equipment

• Cake Strips for Evenly Baked Cakes
• KitchenAid Professional 600 Series
• Heavy Duty Flat Parchment Paper
• 6-Cavity Mini Fluted Tube Baking Pan
• Rectangular Cake Pan, 9 x 13 inch

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 cups flour // 12.75 oz. // 360 grams
• 3 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened // 12 tbsp. // 1 1/2 sticks
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar lightly packed // 150 grams
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup neutral oil // 80mL
• 1 cup molasses unsulfured // 250mL
• 3/4 cup strong brewed tea // 180mL
• *powdered sugar for dusting if desired

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with buttered (or use baking spray) parchment paper, leaving an inch of overhang on the ends. *Wrap pan with cake strips – optional, but recommended.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper and salt. Whisk to combine, then set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes.
• Add eggs and beat until incorporated. Add molasses, oil, and vanilla. Mix until just combined, scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
• Add half of the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Then add tea, mix until just combined, then add remaining flour and mix just until you no longer see pockets of flour.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold the cake batter a few times, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is thoroughly combined.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
• Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully lift cake to make sure it easily releases. Place a lined baking sheet or cooling rack on top of the pan and carefully flip over. Remove parchment from bottom of cake. Place cooling rack on the cake (bottom) and flip back over. Place on cooling rack to cool completely.
• Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Video

Notes

Recipe will also make 6 mini Bundt cakes, instead of one 9×13 cake.

If you prefer a cake with a lighter gingerbread flavor, you can reduce the spices to the following amounts:

• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. cloves, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 343kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 316mgFiber: 1gSugar: 33g

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