This deeply spiced and moist gingerbread cake is wonderful any time of day, whether served plain or dressed up with spiced cream cheese frosting and sugared cranberries. You can make it as a single layer cake, or try the 3 layer cake versions detailed in the Notes. No matter how you bake and serve it, this is a classic gingerbread recipe the whole family will love during the holiday season!
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and helpful information about using different cake pan sizes.
Nothing tastes more like the holidays than the warm, cozy flavors of gingerbread. The smell of ginger, cloves, and molasses can instantly transport anyone’s mindset to December.
One reader, MK, commented: “Soooo delicious! My grandma used to make gingerbread every year and never used a written recipe. This is the closest thing I’ve tasted to it in years. ★★★★★”
Every holiday season, I make my favorite gingerbread cookies, and gingerbread waffles are fast becoming a favorite winter weekend tradition in my house, too. But what about just, simply, gingerbread? A sweet, spiced stick-to-your-fork-moist cake that can do double-duty as Christmas morning breakfast and dessert… welcome to my quintessential gingerbread recipe!
While adding a layer of cream cheese frosting makes it a wonderful holiday dessert, this cake would be just as welcome as a special holiday breakfast, snack, or late-night last-minute gift-wrapping fuel.
Gingerbread has no time-of-day limitations. 😉
Why You Will Love This Gingerbread Snack Cake
- A 1-layer cake, perfect for when you aren’t feeding a big crowd
- You can even make it as an upside down pear gingerbread cake
- Warm, comforting holiday flavors of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves
- Moist cake crumb, not dry or dense at all
- Top with spiced cream cheese frosting, enjoy it plain, with whipped cream, or with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar
- Adaptable to other pan sizes—see below
- Quick and easy prep makes for a low-maintenance holiday dessert
Ingredients You Need:
- Flour: The base of the gingerbread cake recipe.
- Baking Soda: As you may have read in my baking powder vs. baking soda post, molasses and brown sugar are both acids. So we need baking soda to give the cake its lift!
- Spices: Ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt—the gingerbread mainstays.
- Molasses: In addition to the spices, molasses is the other signature flavor in most gingerbread recipes. I recommend using unsulphured or dark molasses, not blackstrap, which has a more intense flavor that’s a bit too much in baked goods. (I always use Grandma’s brand molasses.)
- Hot Water: As you’ll read about below, whisking the thick molasses with hot water before adding it to the batter makes everything come together easily. The water also adds supreme moisture to each and every bite.
- Butter: You just can’t beat the flavor of this baking staple!
- Brown Sugar: Sweetening with brown sugar provides extra moisture + molasses flavor.
- Egg: 1 egg serves to bind the ingredients together, and adds richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Because, you know, cake. 🙂
How to Mix Sticky Molasses Into Cake Batter
Whisk the molasses with hot water before adding it to the batter. Why? As you know, molasses is very thick. The thick goop, for lack of better words, doesn’t mix easily into cake batter. It’s fine for cookie doughs such as iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies and gingerbread cookie bars, but hot water helps loosen the viscous consistency of molasses, which helps incorporate it into a thinner cake batter.
The resulting cake is dense, yet soft. Buttery, perfectly spiced, and impeccably flavored.
The rest of the prep work is pretty simple, too. You’ll cream the butter and brown sugar together, so an electric mixer is undoubtedly helpful (you’ll need it if you make the frosting, too). As the recipe instructs below, add the dry ingredients and water/molasses mixture to the wet ingredients in separate additions.
The batter is a little thick, and some small lumps are OK:
Different Pan Size Options
This is a versatile gingerbread cake recipe. It can be made a multitude of ways: as a 1-layer round, square, or 11×7-inch rectangle cake; as a gingerbread loaf cake; or as a layer cake. I originally published this recipe in 2015, and when testing this recipe again this year, we tried all of these variations so we could tell you which pans do and don’t work. We went through a LOT of molasses, and had a LOT of cake to give away.
Here’s what we know: The recipe as written makes about 3 cups of batter, and weighs about 850–890g. A 9-inch springform pan is best because this gingerbread cake rises high. No matter what size pan you use, bake the cake at 350°F (177°C). Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to test for doneness. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Here are the best pans to use (about 35 minutes bake time for each):
- 9-inch springform pan or 10-inch springform pan
- 9-inch square baking pan
- 11×7-inch rectangle pan
Here are the pans that won’t work:
- There is too much batter for a 9-inch round cake pan.
- There is not enough batter for a 9×13-inch pan or a Bundt pan.
Yes! I suggest making the batter twice, and reducing the molasses (see Note below). This will be a lot of batter (about 6 cups or 1745g) and is the perfect amount for a 3-layer cake. Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Fill the cake pans halfway (about 575g batter in each). Bake for 22–25 minutes. If you don’t want to make the batter twice, you can make it once and bake it in three 6-inch round cake pans, to make a 3-layer 6-inch cake.
Yes! For about 14 cupcakes, fill liners halfway and bake for 20-22 minutes. Or try my slightly different recipe for gingerbread cupcakes.
Topping Gingerbread Cake
This gingerbread snack cake is absolutely fantastic on its own—you don’t even need frosting! But if you want to make it a little more special, slather on some sweet and tangy spiced cream cheese frosting. (Included in the recipe card below.) It’s like absolute heaven on this not-too-sweet cake.
You can also give it a simple dusting of confectioners’ sugar, a dollop of whipped cream, or try the lemon glaze I pair with these just-as-tasty gingerbread muffins.
Or keep it plain so you can warm your slice up and top it with vanilla ice cream. Maybe a little salted caramel sauce on top there, too? Why not!?
I also love to garnish it with cranberries for color. Sugared cranberries are especially festive, and see my notes in that tutorial for sugared rosemary. Here’s a slice from my 9-inch springform pan:
Here’s the layered cake, detailed in the recipe Notes below:
And here’s the gingerbread cake baked in a 9-inch square pan with festive Christmas sprinkles. The little holly decorations are by the brand Wilton, and I can’t seem to find them online anymore. These Christmas trees are similar, though!
If you love smaller-scale cake recipes like this, try this small chocolate cake or my easy 1-layer sprinkle cake.
More Gingerbread Recipes
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars & Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
- Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
- Homemade Gingerbread House (with free template)
- Gingerbread Waffles
- Gingerbread Latte Cookies
Spiced Gingerbread Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 55 minutes (includes cooling)
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my timeless classic gingerbread. You can enjoy it plain or with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or dollop of whipped cream. You can also top it with spiced cream cheese frosting (recipe included below). You can make it as a single layer round or square cake, or try the layer cake versions detailed in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (180ml or 225g) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 3/4 cup (180ml) hot water (about 100°F (38°C))
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- small pinch each of ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves
- optional: sprinkles and/or sugared cranberries for garnish
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan, 9-inch square pan, or 11×7-inch rectangle pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl or in a liquid measuring cup, whisk the molasses and hot water together.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) On medium-high speed, beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the hot water/molasses, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Avoid over-mixing. Give it a whisk by hand at the end to make sure there are no large lumps (a few small lumps are OK). Batter is slightly thick.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for around 35 minutes, or until the cake is baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean with only a couple moist (not wet) crumbs, it’s done.
- Allow cake to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. The cake must be completely cool before frosting.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until creamy and no lumps remain, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and pinches of spices. (Note that the video does not include the spices in the frosting, but the pictures do!) Beat on low speed for 20 seconds, then increase to high speed until everything is completely combined and the frosting is creamy. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. Spread on top of cake. Spread around the sides if you have extra frosting.
- Slice and serve.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 6. Wrap the baked and cooled cake tightly and keep at room temperature for 1 day or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature (if frozen) then continue with step 7. Frosting can also be made 1 day ahead of time. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again, if needed. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or serve cold. See How to Freeze Cakes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Springform Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Offset Icing Spatula
- Different Size Pans: No matter what size pan you use, bake the cake at 350°F (177°C). A 9-inch springform pan or 10-inch springform pan is best because this gingerbread cake rises pretty high. 9-inch cake pans are too short. You can also use a 9-inch square pan or 11×7-inch rectangle pan. For all of these pans, the bake time will be about 35 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to test for doneness. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. There is not enough batter for a 9×13-inch cake pan or a Bundt pan.
- Gingerbread Cupcakes: For about 14 cupcakes, fill liners halfway and bake for 20–22 minutes. Or try my slightly different recipe for gingerbread cupcakes.
- 9-Inch Layer Cake: You can make this as a 3-layer 9-inch cake. I suggest making the batter twice, and reducing the molasses to 1/2 cup (150g) in each (for 1 cup (300g) total in the layer cake). You do not have to reduce the water. Don’t double this recipe—make it twice and then combine the batters; the batter is too heavy to double all at once. You will have about 6 cups or 1745g of batter. Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Fill the cake pans halfway (about 575g batter in each). Bake the layers for 22–25 minutes. The best amounts/ratio of ingredients to use for the frosting would be the same cream cheese frosting from this carrot cake recipe. Feel free to still add a pinch of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves to it if desired.
- 6-inch Layer Cake: You can make the batter as written above and divide it between 3 6-inch round cake pans, to make a 3-layer 6-inch cake. The cream cheese frosting written above is enough for the 3-layer 6-inch cake.
- Adapted from Gingerbread Muffins.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally: Could we use some add ins…Raisans, Dates, or Figs, and Nuts (Pecans or Walnuts)…would anything have to change..how much of each?
Absolutely. I would say 1 cup total add-ins (usually around 120-130g).
Can I use maple syrup in place of molasses?
Hi Guadalupe, molasses is a key ingredient in this recipe and there aren’t any substitutions that will give it the same classic gingerbread taste.
Sounds so delicious- do you think I could use gf flour without other modifications
Hi Peggy, we haven’t tested this cake with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give it a go!
This is one of our favorite recipes — as a matter of fact, I am making this for the main dessert at our family’s big Christmas dinner. One question— I want to make 2 layers with cream cheese icing between the layers and on top of the cake. Can I use two 9” high-sided cake pans? I know I can’t use regular 9”round cake pans, and I usually bake the layers in a springform pan, but I rather use my deep 9” cake pans, if they will work. Thanks for the help.
Hi Mary Beth, the cake layers will be quite thick, even if you use 9-inch cake pans with higher (perhaps 3 inch high) sides. It will be hard to slice through. Because even as pictured, it’s a thick cake. You can, however, certainly try it! How deep are your pans?
Yes, they are 3 inches. I guess I will stick to my springform pan. Thanks so much for your advice!
I love having this recipe and know it will be a keeper. Many thanks for this and others along the way. A very Merry Christmas to you and your family Ruth
Recipe sounds great. Can I substitute hot coffee for the hot water?
Hi Marilyn, you certainly can. You’ll definitely taste the coffee in the cake, so it will be a very flavorful ginger/spice/molasses/coffee cake.
Made this for a holiday party and everyone raved about it! Delicious!
l love gingerbread cake and this is a delicious recipe for it. I’ve used other recipes over the years and have always loved serving gingerbread with a dollop of lemon curd and a separate dollop of hard sauce on the side; a really special and delicious combination.
Made the Spiced Gingerbread Loaf. Mine came out a lot lighter in color than the picture on the website
Yes, mine does too when I use most brands of molasses. That pictured loaf was made with a type of very dark molasses by the brand Wholesome Organic.
Lemon curd with whipped cream another alternative for topping…
Hi, Sally! How can I substitute molasses? It doesn’t exist in my country. Thanks!
Hi Lucia, do you have black treacle? It has a more bitter flavor than molasses. You can use it, though. You may want to reduce the amount to 1/2 cup (120ml).
This looks lovely, I have been asked to make a top tier Gingerbead cake. Would your rrecipes be ok. She wants normal buttercream on the outside. Many thanks
Hi Debbie, for a gingerbread cake as the top tier, we’d recommend using our recipe for gingerbread cupcakes. It makes the perfect amount of batter for a 3 layer, 6 inch cake. You can use vanilla buttercream on the outside. Hope it’s a hit!
If I want to bake a 1/2 sheet size cake, would I quadruple the recipe?
Hi Susan! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
This cake was amazing. I was worried it would be too dense but it was perfect. 1 upped the cinnamon and ginger to 2 tsp each and used the stronger Saigon cinnamon. I also added 1 tsp of nutmeg and 1/4 tsp espresso powder. I’m sure this would be lovely with the frosting but it’s also really good by itself. Thanks Sally!
Very moist and flavorful, but if I were to make it again, I would use less molasses and dial up the ginger and cinnamon. All I could taste was molasses.
This is a fabulous recipe. I made the original recipe (i.e. cake) last year and cupcakes this year. The cupcakes were just as wonderful as the cake. I baked them for 25 mins and they came out perfectly.
One of the most delicious cakes I have ever made! I followed the recipe, but added about 1/4 cup sour cream to the mix, and played with the spices (some cinnamon, a pinch of cloves, a shake of pumpkin spice). I tried it in a christmas star shaped pan…which was not ideal as it takes longer for the middle to bake. Will use loaf pans next time. I made an orange-cream cheese glaze on top, which was very yummy (like a very thin cream cheese icing, but using OJ and a bit of maple syrup instead of milk).
PS – I endorse the hot water + molasses mix. Even with that, the molasses can be an intense flavour.
Delicious!! I omitted the cream cheese frosting but added your crumb topping from your Pumpkin Crumbcake recipe and it’s delicious! Dusting of powdered sugar – so festive.
This was delicious and moist. My boyfriend who doesn’t really like ginger gobbled up the cake and left no crumbs. I also made the frosting and it went well with the cake.
Made in bundle cake round and was great! Decorated with cranberries and rosemary for Christmas party and was big hit
Just my experience regarding creamy frosting: I find using generic cream cheese, or other less expensive brands results in a more lumpy frosting, and you really have to beat it. Now I only use Kraft for my frostings, and cheesecakes – problem solved.
This is the best Gingerbread Cake I have ever tasted or made. Everyone loved it and it is so moist.
Thanks for sharing. I will now get rid of all the other Gingerbread recipes I have been keeping in my recipe box.
Soooo delicious! My grandma used to make gingerbread every year and never used a written recipe. This is the closest thing I’ve tasted to it in years. I added a bit extra of all the spices.
The problem with lumpy cream cheese frosting can be fixed by making sure to whip the softened cream cheese a little bit before adding any other ingredients. It will stay smooth as you mix it all together.
Will there be a big difference to this cake if you omit the water? I have been testing gingerbread cakes that also include water and it often leaves me with a baking soda taste in my cakes. I would assume this is because baking soda and powder are typically made double active now?
I wanted to see if I could do this recipe without water and get the same results. Thank you!
Hi Sara, we don’t recommend leaving out the water. It plays an important role here in thinning out the molasses and overall moisture of the cake. For best results, we recommend sticking with the recipe as written.
Hi Sally, Thanks for posting such nice recipes. I baked this from start to finish but a couple things didn’t go smoothly (probably my error!). The first issue is that the cake didn’t rise too much – it’s not a tall cake (used 9 inch spring-form with ingredients brought to ripe temperature). My baking soda isn’t old. I did assemble the dry ingredients first about an hour before I started baking and covered it with plastic wrap. I wonder if that somehow affected the baking soda?
As for the frosting, I also brought everything to the appropriate temperature, but the frosting wasn’t very smooth for me – there were lumps of cream cheese and butter. I did use a standing mixer. It looked smooth initially once I was done, but when I spread it on the cake, it had lumps. I was wondering if I undermixed it or if somehow the room temperature ingredients got too warm. I don’t bake a lot of cakes, so any feedback you have would be great. Thank you!
Hi Amanda, thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! A very common cause of dense cake is over-mixing. Be very careful to just mix until the ingredients are combined. For the frosting, it sounds under-mixed. Make sure to scrape the sides of the mixer down occasionally to make sure everything is incorporating correctly. Here are some tips for baking cakes that may be helpful for you!
This recipe is exactly what I’m looking for! I would love to make this in loaf form. Would the baking time change if baked in a 9×5 loaf pan?
Hi Kathryn, You can certainly make this in a loaf pan. We are unsure of the exact bake time. You may also want to use our updated gingerbread loaf recipe: https://route-span.live/spiced-gingerbread-loaf/%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E
Hi Sally! This would be perfect to take to a bake sale, as cupcakes, that I’ve been asked to make a few items for! Do you think I could use some cranberries in the batter? I’m going to need to use sugar on top instead of any sort of frosting because of lack of refrigeration on their part. Unless you can think of something else I could use?
Thanks! Terry~
P.S. Have you considered trying to come up with a cake that tastes like gingersnaps?
Hi Terry! You could absolutely add cranberries to this batter– fresh, frozen, or dried would all be fine. No need to thaw if using frozen. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar would be simple and tasty.
Hi there! I plan to bake gingerbread cake and gingerbread cookies according to your recipes. I was wondering why it calls for allspice in the cookies but not in the cake.
I would love to make this for a large Christmas party we’re having in a few weeks, but I would need to make it in a 9×13 pan. Can I just make the batter twice and put it in a 9×13 or would that be too much batter for the one pan?
Hi Melissa, our cake pan sizes and conversions guide will be helpful for determining how best to scale this recipe for a 9×13 cake. Hope it’s a hit!