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Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This easy, flavorful and moist one-layer Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting makes the perfect dessert for Christmas time and the holiday season.

Gingerbread cake topped with cream cheese frosting and crystallized ginger.

This Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is amazing! I love everything about it. It's easy to make, incredibly moist and tender, and the spices make it so flavorful. I look forward to making this cake at least once every December. It's really the perfect treat for the holidays.

This simple gingerbread snack cake is delicious on its own but topping it with a tangy cream cheese frosting and a bit of chopped crystallized ginger takes it to another level and makes it extra festive!

Slice of gingerbread cake topped with cream cheese frosting.

How to Make it

This cake comes together easily, but if you don't have enough time to bake and frost the cake on the same day, you can bake on one day, and make the frosting the next day. Simply cover the cake and leave it at room temperature until ready to frost.

Here's an overview of the ingredients and steps. Please see the complete instructions in recipe card at the end of the post.

Ingredients Overview:

  • All-purpose flour. If you like, you can also use a combination of all purpose and whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe.
  • Ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves
  • Baking soda and salt
  • Unsalted butter 
  • Molasses and brown sugar are used to sweeten the cake
  • Egg
  • Chai tea. Can also use boiled water or brewed coffee instead of tea.

Steps Overview:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F and place rack in the centre of the oven. Slightly butter an 8x8-inch cake pan and line it with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, this will make it easier to lift the cake out.
  2. In a glass measuring cup, combine 3/4 cup of boiling water with 1 chai tea bag, set aside to steep.
  3. Into a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
  4. In the bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Beat until well combined.
  6. Keep beating while slowly adding the molasses.
  7. Add in half of the dry ingredients and mix just until well combined.
  8. Scrape down the sides of your bowl again and then add the remaining dry ingredients.
  9. Slowly add the chai tea and stir until well combined.
  10. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, this will take about 30 to 35 minutes.
  11. Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before lifting the paper and cake out of pan to continue cooling on wire rack.
  12. Once the cake has cooled remove the parchment paper and place the cake on a serving dish.

Tip: To easily get the molasses out of the measuring cup, rub a drop of oil in your measuring cup before filing it with molasses, the molasses will slide right down the measuring cup.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Though you don't need to frost this cake since it is delicious even without frosting, I like to ice it with a cream cheese frosting. To add even more ginger flavour, I sprinkle chopped crystallized ginger onto the frosted cake, it's entirely optional, but I find it delicious.

Ingredients needed:

  • Brick-style cream cheese.
  • Lemon zest and juice
  • Pure vanilla extract
  • Icing sugar: Also known as powdered sugar.
  • Crystallized ginger for garnish (optional)

Steps:

  1. In the bowl of your mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
  2. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, beat for 1 more minute.
  3. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add one cup of icing sugar at a time until you have the desired consistency, I used 2-1/2 cups of icing sugar.
  4. Frost the cooled cake and if desired top it with the chopped crystallized ginger.
Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this cake with or without frosting with a cup of tea or coffee. I like to serve it for dessert, but it's also great to serve at brunches during the holiday season.

Storage Instructions

Store leftover frosted gingerbread cake in the refrigerator. It will keep up to a week, if you can resist it for that long!

The cake can also be frozen without the frosting. Simply wrap the cake in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil and freeze for up to three months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator. If desired, frost the cake once it has thawed.

More Gingerbread Recipes

If you love gingerbread recipes as much as I do, you might also want to try these Gingerbread Muffins, they're perfect for breakfast or to serve at a Christmas brunch. And if you're looking for a stunning holiday dessert this Espresso Gingerbread Bundt Cake is simply amazing!

Enjoy!

More Christmas and Holiday Season Recipes

Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Author: Sweet and Savoury Pursuits, cake portion adapted from Fine Cooking.
This Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is so flavourful, incredibly moist and so easy to make, you'll likely find yourself making this more than once during the holiday season!
4.80 from 10 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Western
Servings 9
Calories 429 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Classic Gingerbread Cake

  • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 ¼ tsp. ground ginger
  • ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ¼ cup plus 1 Tbs. unsalted butter softened at room temperature
  • cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ¾ cup dark molasses
  • ¾ cup chai tea

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • ½ package regular cream cheese softened
  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. lemon zest
  • ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ cups icing sugar

Garnish:

  • 2 tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger

Instructions
 

For the Classic Gingerbread Cake

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
  • Slightly butter an 8x8-inch cake pan and line it with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, this will make it easier to lift the cake out. Butter the paper slightly.
  • In a glass measuring cup, combine 3/4 cup of boiling water with 1 chai tea bag, set aside to steep.
  • Into a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
  • Add the brown sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Beat until well combined.
  • Keep beating and slowly add in the molasses.
  • Add in half of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until well combined.
  • Scrape down the sides of your bowl again and then add the remaining dry ingredients.
  • Slowly add the chai tea and stir until well combined.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
  • Let cool for 10 min before lifting the paper and cake out of pan.
  • Let cool on rack (with paper).
  • Once cake has cooled remove paper and place on serving dish.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • In the bowl of your mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
  • Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, beat for 1 more minute.
  • With the mixer on the lowest speed, add one cup of icing sugar at a time until you have the desired consistency, I used 2 1/2 cups of icing sugar.
  • Frost the cooled cake and if desired top with the chopped crystallized ginger.

Notes

  1. To make it easier to get the molasses out of the measuring cup rub a drop of oil in your measuring cup before filing it with molasses. The molasses will slide right down the measuring cup.
  2. Boiled water or brewed coffee can be used instead of chai tea. Just make sure to use the same amount (3/4 of a cup). 

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 85gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 157mgPotassium: 478mgFiber: 1gSugar: 64gVitamin A: 287IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 3mg
Keyword Classic Gingerbread Cake, Gingerbread Cake, Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Tried this recipe? Have any questions, comments or suggestions? Leave a comment below!Mention @sweetandsavourypursuits or tag #sweetandsavourypursuits!

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Recipe Rating




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Alex

Monday 22nd of February 2016

Tried this recipe, it was delicious

Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Tuesday 23rd of February 2016

That's excellent, happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know!

teagan geneviene

Friday 11th of December 2015

What a wonderful combination! Hugs! :)

Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Saturday 12th of December 2015

Thank you, it's really quite delicious!

Stephanie Leduc

Monday 7th of December 2015

Wow, this looks so good! I have to agree, as a fellow Canadian, I am LOVING the weather as well :) But I am hoping to have snow on christmas day!

Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Monday 7th of December 2015

Thanks! Yes, I agree snow on Christmas day is a must!

HapaNomNom

Saturday 5th of December 2015

So glad you're enjoying the warmer weather :) I'm loving the combination of flavors you've got going on here! These would make wonderful Christmas gifts.

Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Sunday 6th of December 2015

You know I hadn't thought of gifting them but you're absolutely right!

Louise Crosby

Saturday 5th of December 2015

Gingerbread and the holidays, they go together. This cake looks delicious!

Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Sunday 6th of December 2015

I agree! I always make some type of gingerbread cake or cookie during the holidays :)

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