Gingerbread Cake (2024)

Published: December 19, 2019 · Modified: Nov 28, 2022 by John Kanell

This flavorful gingerbread cake is the perfect holiday dessert recipe. It’s one of our favorite winter treats as it’s full of warming spices and sweet molasses flavor. There’s nothing cozier than enjoying a big slice of this gingerbread cake. It’s so tender and moist that you’ll want to reach for a second slice.

This is an excellent cake for holiday gatherings as it’s easy to make. No mixer required! Simply mix together all the ingredients and pour the batter into a single baking pan. You don’t even have to frost the cake! A little dusting of powdered sugar is enough to impress your guests. For another cozy holiday dessert recipe, try my gingersnap cookies recipe, molasses cookies recipe, or Pfeffernusse recipe.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Leavening agents — baking soda keeps the cake from being too dense and baking powder helps it to rise. Make sure they are fresh and are not expired!

Spices — the combination of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves is what gives the cake its gingerbread flavor. Make sure the spices are fresh for the best flavor.

Molasses — this is a key ingredient to get that classic gingerbread flavor in your cake. Use unsulphured molasses, do not swap for blackstrap molasses. Unsulphured molasses is sweet with a warm flavor, whereas blackstrap molasses has a robust and slightly bitter flavor.

Water — you need to use hot or boiling water for this gingerbread cake recipe as you need to thin out the molasses to help incorporate it into the cake batter.

Butter — make sure to use unsalted butter.

How to Make Gingerbread Cake

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and baking soda.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the molasses and hot water until the molasses is dissolved.

3. Whisk in the sugar and the butter until well combined.

4. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

5. Pour the molasses mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

6. Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the center is springy to the touch. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Serve with fresh whipped cream and dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Pro Tips for Making This Recipe

• This cake would be delicious topped with my perfect cream cheese frosting! For a little extra zing, add lemon zest from 1 lemon to the frosting.
• This recipe could easily be converted to a layer cake by dividing the batter among two 9-inch round cake pans. Coat with buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting.
• I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour as it’s the most accurate method and will prevent you from ending up with a dense gingerbread cake. If you don’t have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon and spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
• Do not overmix the batter, or you’ll have a tough cake. Mix everything until just combined.
• I recommend bringing the eggs to room temperature, so they incorporate into the batter without overbeating. If you forgot to bring the eggs out, place them in a bowl of warm tap water to help warm them up.
• For the best flavor, use pure vanilla instead of artificial extract. Even better, try my homemade vanilla extract.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve tried this Gingerbread Cake recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!