This frosted gingerbread cake is a one-layer snack cake covered with tangy cream cheese frosting! The cake is made in one bowl and you don't even need a mixer to make it. It's a super soft cake and packed with all the warm spices.
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I love gingerbread anything when it comes to the holidays! Give me some gingerbread cookies, frosted gingerbread cookies or a gingerbread mug cake any day.
Just like all the recipes I develop, this frosted gingerbread cake recipe is super easy to whip up but looks impressive. The gingerbread cake is packed with flavor thanks to molasses and a bunch of spices, and it's made without a mixer!
I then covered the cake in a fluffy cream cheese frosting, based on the frosting from my peppermint bark brownies! This gingerbread is super soft and a fun twist on a way to enjoy gingerbread in the holiday season.
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Why you'll love this recipe!
- Simple to Make: as I said, the gingerbread cake itself is made in just one bowl without a mixer. You'll need a handheld mixer or stand mixer to make the frosting (or a really strong arm!)
- Packed with Flavor: we get all the Christmas flavors here thanks to a mix of molasses, brown sugar and a ton of spices.
- Festive Decorating: what I love most about this snack cake is how fun it is to decorate! Obviously had to bring out all the Christmas sprinkles and edible decorations!
Grab your ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: we're using melted butter for the cake, which is why we don't need to use a stand mixer! I always use European butter which has a higher butterfat content, which makes it richer.
- Spices: the cake uses a mixture of ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. These warm spices are what's going to give us that gingerbread flavor so don't skip these out!
- Brown Sugar: I've used light brown sugar because that's what I had in my pantry. Using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar will give us richer and deeper flavors.
- Molasses: I'm using unsulphured molasses, and not sulphured or blackstrap molasses. I'm using the Grandma's brand. Unsulphured mild molasses is sweeter, while blackstrap has a really strong flavor that is overpowering in a cake like this.
- Cream Cheese: you'll need some full-fat cream cheese for the cream cheese frosting. Try to use brick-style cream cheese if you can, the type of cream cheese that comes in a tub has a higher moisture content, so your frosting will be runny.
Substitutions & Additions
- Brown Sugar: swap out the light brown sugar for an equal amount of dark brown sugar.
- Molasses: if you're in the UK, swap out the molasses for black treacle.
How to make this recipe
- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350ºFahrenheit and line a 9x9 square pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and egg until smooth.
- Step 2: In a large jug or medium bowl, whisk the molasses with hot water until smooth.
- Step 3: Add the melted butter, salt, and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Step 4: Pour in the dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, and spices. Fold until just combined, then pour in the hot molasses mixture. Whisk until smooth. This is a pretty loose cake batter!
- Step 5: Pour batter into your prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out with just a few crumbs. Let the cake cool in the pan.
- Step 6: Once the cake has cooled completely, make the frosting. In a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt. Take the cake out of the pan and frost. Enjoy!
My Top Baking Tips
- Kitchen Scale: I always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your flour. If you add too much flour to this cake, it'll end up dry and dense.
- Mixing Molasses: molasses is THICK, and adding hot water is going to help it incorporate with the rest of the ingredients, so don't skip this step.
- Let Cool: make sure the cake has cooled completely before you add the frosting. I know waiting for it to cool is annoying, but that frosting will melt right off if you don't put it on a cool cake.
- Cream Cheese in a Tub: if your cream cheese only comes in a tub and isn't brick-style, use cold cream cheese. It won't make the frosting as runny!
Serving Suggestions
- Cranberry Garnish: for some extra festivities, decorate the top of the cake with sugared cranberries! Just use the recipe from my cranberry lemon bread.
- Serve Plain: if you don't want to bother with frosting, this easy gingerbread cake is just as good plain or with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top.
Storage & Freezing
Keep the frosted cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. You can keep the unfrosted cake covered or wrapped tightly at room temperature for 4-5 days.
To freeze the cake, wrap tightly in plastic wrap then place in a ziploc bag for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight in the fridge before enjoying.
Try these Christmas recipes next!
Made This Recipe?
Make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! You can tag me on Instagram @alpineella or follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!
Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Frosted Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Soft and chewy gingerbread bars covered in a cream cheese frosting.
Equipment
- 1 9x9 baking pan
Ingredients
Gingerbread Bars
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (160 grams) unsulphured molasses
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180 ml) hot water
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 oz (85 grams) full fat cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups (283 grams) confectioners' sugar
- pinch salt
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius. Grease and line a 9x9 baking pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar with the egg for 1 minute until thick and smooth.½ cup (100 grams) light brown sugar, 1 large egg
- Pour in the melted butter, salt and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- In a jug or bowl, whisk the molasses with the hot water until smooth.½ cup (160 grams) unsulphured molasses, ¾ cup (180 ml) hot water
- Fold in the dry ingredients, using a rubber spatula to combine everything. Fold until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the hot molasses mixture until well combined. This is a pretty loose batter!2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to make sure the batter is even. Bake for 25-35 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean or with just a few crumbs. Let the cake cool in the pan.
- In a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and cream cheese together. Beat for about 1-2 minutes until smooth.3 oz (85 grams) full fat cream cheese, ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter
- Add the confectioners' sugar, and salt. Beat again for 1 minute until light and fluffy.2 ½ cups (283 grams) confectioners' sugar, pinch salt
- Take the cooled cake out of the pan and spread the cream cheese frosting on top. Add sprinkles if you wish!
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.
Room Temperature: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients about 2 hours before you start baking.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note, I am using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and not Morton Salt, which is a coarse kosher salt and much saltier.
Butter: I use European style butter in my recipes. This will make your finished bake much creamier and richer.
Molasses: use a mild, unsulphured molasses. I used Grandma's brand of molasses. If you're in the UK, use black treacle.
Storage: keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
Laurence says
This was such a hit for Christmas! It is the perfect cake that feels like the biggest holiday hug, adding it to my Christmas baking rotation from now on!
Ella says
Thank you so much for your review!
Nicole says
This cake is so Quick & Easy to make.
It’s also very light and fluffy. I added peppermint crunch on top of the frosting. Will be remaking this again & again.
Katie says
Newly obsessed with this cake. I'm not a huge gingerbread fan (I don't like ginger) but I made this yesterday for my family and it was a huge hit. We could not stop eating it. The spice level is just right (I did .5 of a tsp less of ginger for myself) and the cream cheese taste of the frosting is the perfect complement. A big crowd pleaser, I'm thinking of doubling the recipe and doing a tiered cake next.
Ella says
Thank you so much for your review!