Gingerbread Layer Cake | Life, Love and Sugar

November 29, 2023

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This Gingerbread Layer Cake is made with three tender, moist cake layers bursting with gingerbread taste and is stuffed and frosted with a easy molasses cream cheese frosting! It’s full heat, cozy spices and is certain to turn out to be a brand new vacation favourite!

The Finest Gingerbread Cake Recipe

This gingerbread cake recipe is the proper cake for the vacations! There’s little question in my thoughts that it’ll earn a distinguished place in your vacation dessert recipes. Right here’s why:

Texture. This cake is so splendidly tender and moist. Whenever you add the sleek cream cheese frosting, it makes the proper mixture.
Critical gingerbread taste. This dessert is loaded with all types of warming spices reminiscent of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Together with the molasses within the cake batter in addition to the frosting, there’s no lacking the candy nostalgia of gingerbread taste.
Excellent for the vacations. There’s simply one thing about gingerbread that screams “Christmas” and this cake does it so properly. It’s the proper addition to your vacation dessert desk.

Gingerbread layer cake on a cake stand garnished with gingerbread men and sugared cranberries.

What You’ll Want

Right here’s what you’ll must make this recipe for gingerbread cake. You’ll want to scroll to the recipe card beneath for exact measurements.

Gingerbread Cake

All-purpose flour – You’ll want to measure it correctly, ideally with a meals scale. An excessive amount of flour is the commonest offender to a dry cake.
Baking powder and baking soda – I used each to get the proper rise and texture.
Spices – Floor ginger, floor cinnamon, floor nutmeg, floor allspice, and floor cloves.
Salt – This amplifies the flavors within the cake.
Unsalted butter – The butter must be at room temperature. In any other case, it gained’t cream correctly with the sugars and vanilla.
Granulate sugar and brown sugar – Using brown sugar along with granulated sugar brings an added depth of taste to the cake layers together with further moisture.
Vanilla extract
Eggs – Room-temperature eggs will combine extra easily and simply into the batter. You’ll want to use giant eggs, not medium or further giant.
Bitter cream – This helps add further moisture and a young texture. In a pinch, greek yogurt would work superb.
Buttermilk – This additionally provides moisture and helps give a stunning tender cake. It’s finest if the buttermilk is at room temperature.
Molasses – You’ll want to use unsulphered molasses, NOT blackstrap molasses.

Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese – Begin with room-temperature cream cheese. Cream cheese that’s too chilly willy offer you a lumpy frosting. You’ll want to use full fats brick-style cream cheese.
Butter – The butter must be at room temperature. Whether it is too chilly, your frosting will possible end up lumpy.
Powdered sugar – So as to add quantity to your frosting and get it consistency for adorning. Be happy to cut back it, if desired. Simply needless to say changes change the consistency of the frosting.
Vanilla extract
Molasses – Once more, be sure you use unsulphered molasses, NOT blackstrap molasses.
Garnish – I used gingerbread males and sugared cranberries. You don’t need to however I feel it provides a pleasant, festive spin.

How one can Make Gingerbread Layer Cake

Right here’s a simplified overview of the right way to make this moist, tender, Christmas-y gingerbread cake. Don’t overlook to scroll to the recipe card beneath for extra thorough directions.

For the Cake Layers

Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F, line the underside of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, and grease the edges.
Mix the dry substances. Whisk collectively the flour, baking powder baking soda, spices, and salt.
Creaming. Cream collectively the butter, sugars, and vanilla till gentle and fluffy, after which combine within the eggs, one after the other.
Add eggs and bitter cream. Add the eggs one after the other. Then add the bitter cream and blend till properly mixed. The combination could look curdled.

Creaming together the butter, sugars, and vanilla for cake batter.

Mixing eggs and sour cream into creamed butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Put all of it collectively. Combine half of the dry substances into the batter after which slowly combine within the milk adopted by the molasses. Combine within the remaining dry substances.
Bake. Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Cool. Permit the truffles to chill of their pans for a couple of minutes earlier than transferring them to wire racks to chill fully.

Combining wet and dry ingredients for gingerbread cake batter.

Make Frosting and Assemble

Make the frosting. Combine collectively the cream cheese and butter till easy after which combine in half of the powdered sugar adopted by the vanilla and molasses and, lastly, the remainder of the powdered sugar.
Construct the cake. Take away the domes from the tops of the truffles and place a cake layer on a serving plate. Unfold 1 cup of frosting excessive. Repeat with the second cake layer positioned instantly on high. End with the ultimate cake layer and frost the skin of the cake.
Embellish. Use the remaining frosting to pipe a border across the high fringe of the cake and garnish with gingerbread males cookies and sugared cranberries.

Molasses cream cheese frosting in a mixing bowl.

Decorating gingerbread cake with gingerbread men.

Gingerbread layer cake garnished with gingerbread men and sugared cranberries.

Suggestions for The Finest Gingerbread Cake

This cake actually is easy to make. Simply be sure that to observe these easy ideas and tips. You’ll have one of the best gingerbread cake you’ve ever tasted on the desk very quickly.

Don’t skimp on creaming. When creaming collectively the butter, sugars, and vanilla, accomplish that till the combination has lightened considerably in shade and turn out to be fluffy. This course of incorporates air into the batter, which helps make sure that your cake doesn’t end up overly dense.
Don’t over measure your flour. I extremely suggest utilizing a meals scale. If not, take a look at my publish on the right way to correctly measure your flour, to make certain you don’t over measure and find yourself with a dry cake.
Don’t over-mix. When you add the dry substances to the batter, it is vital to not over combine as this will trigger the glutens within the flour to overdevelop, which can go away you with a tricky, dense cake.
Scrape down the edges of the bowl. That is notably vital for this cake because the molasses loves to stay to the bowl and, by doing so, escape the batter. Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you add and blend in substances.
Let it cool. Permit the cake layers to chill fully earlier than stacking and frosting. If the cake remains to be heat, the frosting will slide proper off.
Hold frosting thick. Cream cheese frosting is notoriously robust to frost with as a result of it’s naturally thinner than buttercream. I are inclined to thicken mine up with the powdered sugar, however should you aren’t a fan of utilizing that a lot sugar, you may cut back it. I might simply suggest lowering the quantity of all of the substances by the identical share, so that you just nonetheless have a frosting that’s thick sufficient to not slide off of your cake or enable your cake layers to slip round. So principally, you make the identical frosting, simply much less of it.

A slice of gingerbread cake with a bite taken out of it.

Steadily Requested Questions

What’s the distinction between gingerbread and gingerbread cake?

Gingerbread is often a single layer cake and is commonly served with out frosting. As an alternative, a little bit of whipped cream or powdered sugar could also be used. It may be a bit darker and denser.

What cookies did you employ to embellish to embellish the cake?

I used Pepperidge Farms gingerman cookies. You can additionally make some home made gingerbread cookies.

How do you make sugared cranberries?

Add 1/2 a cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water to a saucepan and warmth till sugar is totally dissolved. Pour easy syrup right into a heatproof bowl and permit to chill for about 10 minutes. Add cranberries and stir to coat. Refrigerate cranberries for no less than an hour, or in a single day. Take away cranberries from syrup and roll in sugar. Set cranberries apart to dry for a hour or so, then use them.

Are you able to make this gluten free?

I’ve solely tried this cake with all function flour, however I think about you could possibly make it with gluten free flour. Please let me know should you strive it!

How one can Retailer Leftovers

Fridge. Seal the gingerbread cake in an hermetic cake provider or wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap (I like utilizing toothpicks to prop the plastic away from the decorations). Alternatively, organize slices in a single layer in an hermetic container. You possibly can maintain it within the fridge for as much as 4 days.
Freezer. Pop the cake within the freezer for a few hours to agency up after which wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap. If you happen to already sliced it, organize the slices in a single layer in an hermetic container. You possibly can maintain it within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Permit it to thaw within the fridge earlier than having fun with.

Extra Gingerbread Desserts

‘Tis the season for gingerbread and boy oh boy do I’ve some actually fabulous recipes for you. Right here there are. Let me know which is your favourite.

This recipe was up to date November 29, 2023. Obtain this PDF for the unique recipe.

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