Gingerbread Spice Cake

This gingerbread spice cake is one of the recipes my grandma loved to make during the holidays. While she prepared a hard sauce, this molasses-forward cake is topped with a cream cheese frosting that brings the whole thing together. If you’re looking for a full-flavored recipe to bake this holiday, this is the one to prepare!

This is an easy yet delicious snack cake for Christmas.

Gingerbread is a term that’s used loosely during holiday baking. The word evokes a seasonal feeling, but what is it? Gingerbread should include ground ginger and can include a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and anise. Often gingerbread is sweetened with molasses and brown sugar. Both give the traditional dark color and a sweet depth of flavor. This recipe is an old family staple that my great Grandma Hirschey would make. The flavors are the same that she used, with an updated cream cheese frosting. The sweet tang of the cream cheese balances the heavy molasses cake for a festive and seasonal treat.

Everything you’ll need to make this recipe.

• Molasses adds a definitive richness to the cake without adding too much sweetness. In fact, molasses could even be said to contain some bitter notes. And while that may sound a bit scary, the molasses is what gives this cake so much of its flavor and dark color.
• Baking soda is the leavener of choice that’s employed in this recipe. The baking soda reacts with the molasses to create the rise the cake needs.
• Ground ginger will provide the underlying gingerbread flavor that’s essential in this recipe. It will play well with the molasses and impart the perfect amount of spice to the cake.
• Ground cloves add just a hint of spiciness that’s welcome during the holidays. Cloves can be overwhelming, so make sure to measure precisely when adding to the batter.
• Brewed coffee brings out the richness of the gingerbread and molasses. For those that do not like coffee, do not fear. There is no resulting coffee flavor in the cake. It’s purely used as a heightener of the other flavors in the recipe.

Here’s how to make this recipe.

1. Mix together the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Once creamed, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Add one egg at a time and mix each one into the butter and sugar mixture until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, then add in the molasses and vanilla extract. Mix those two ingredients into the batter until homogenous.

2. Add in the dry ingredients. To the wet batter, add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and while mixing, slowly pour in the brewed coffee. 

3. Bake the cake. Once all of the ingredients are evenly mixed, pour the batter into a greased 9×9 baking dish. Using a spatula, smooth out the top of the cake. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. Once fully baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for two hours while preparing the frosting.

4. Prepare the cream cheese frosting. In a bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Using a hand mixer, mix those two ingredients together until combined and light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the powdered sugar, cognac (or vanilla extract), and salt. Mix all of the ingredients together with the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated and smooth. Give the frosting a few final turns with a spatula or spoon to ensure everything is fully mixed.

5. Frost the cake. Once the cake is fully cooled, add all of the cream cheese frosting on top. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting to an even layer. Serve immediately.

These pro tips will make this recipe a success.

• Allow the butter and sugar to cream for a full three to five minutes. Allowing the mixture to work in air over this amount of time will create a lighter and fluffier mixture that will lead to a better cake once baked.
• While some recipes would have you alternately add the dry ingredients and the brewed coffee to the wet ingredients, this recipe simply combines them all and mixes everything. It worked for my grandma, and it’ll work for us too!
• To keep the cake’s density light, do not overmix it with the hand mixer. Mix the brewed coffee and dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, then finish mixing with a spatula or spoon. This controls the amount of air that’s worked into the cake and results in the perfect texture.
• For this recipe’s butter and cream cheese, make sure they are all at room temperature. This will ensure that they cream together when mixed. Simply set the butter and cream cheese out on the counter about 30 minutes to an hour before preparing the cake.
• Make sure that the cake is fully cool before adding any of the frosting to the top. If there is any warmth to the cake, it will cause the cream cheese frosting to melt, which will thin it out and cause it to weep.

You’ll love these other holiday desserts.

• Cranberry apple pear crisp
• Candy bar cookies
• The best peppermint bark
• Glazed party mix
• Chocolate waffle cookies
• Christmas sugar cookies
• Peanut butter balls
• No-bake peppermint cheesecake
• Peppernuts
• Pecan tassies
• Homemade Christmas caramels
• Sticky date pecan cake