‘Tis the season for gingerbread.
And even though I love love love Gingerbread Cookies, this Spiced Gingerbread Cake is my new favourite holiday dessert. A soft and moist spiced ginger cake bursting with flavour (JUST like good gingerbread should), topped with creamy caramel frosting, and plenty of homemade chocolate ginger cookie crumbs.
If you’re looking for an easy dessert to feed 2, 4, 6 or 8 people, this Easy Spiced Gingerbread Cake is your answer. You can make it the night before and enjoy with a cold glass of eggnog or a mug of hot chocolate. Bliss!
One of the perks of being a blogger is that you have a good excuse to make holiday-themed treats waaaay earlier than anyone should. And you get to eat them too. So even though it’s not even December yet, I have been eating ALL things gingerbread for the last week.
Now I’m a HUGE gingerbread cookie fan. I already shared my favourite recipe for Gingerbread Men last year, so this year I was looking forward to doing a different gingerbread treat. And voila, we ended up with a flavourful and delicious Gingerbread Cake. You NEED to try this.
If you can’t get enough of gingerbread and you want something different, or can’t be bothered rolling out the dough for gingerbread cookies – then this is the recipe for you. An easy one layer cake that will satisfy ALL your gingerbread cravings.
For depth of flavour, I used molasses, plus a handful of spices including ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The result? A soft, sweet cake that is delicious even on its own. But why stop there?
I topped my cake with a super simple caramel frosting, that I made using my own Salted Caramel Sauce. But you can use homemade or store bought caramel – no judgement here.
And the final touch is a scattering of chocolate ginger cookie crumbs. It’s a simple mix and stir recipe with the crumbs only taking 10 minutes or so to bake in the oven. They add a little extra flavour and plenty of texture, so I highly recommend trying them! So here’s to the holiday season! #cheers
Easy Spiced Gingerbread Cake with Caramel frosting
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 12
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
A soft and moist gingerbread cake, topped with creamy caramel frosting, and homemade chocolate ginger cookie crumbs.
Ingredients
Spiced gingerbread cake
- 115 grams (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 80 grams (1/4 cup) molasses
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) milk
Chocolate ginger cookie crumbs
- 105 grams (3/4 cup) plain flour
- 1 tablespoon cornflour or corn starch
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
Caramel frosting
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 250 grams ( 2 cups) icing or powdered sugar
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) caramel sauce, homemade or store bought
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Lightly grease and line the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch cake tin with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars for a few minutes until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat again, scraping down the sides, until combined. Finally, add your molasses and mix on low until combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add your dry ingredients to your butter mixture and mix on low speed. Slowly pour in your milk. Once the mixture is combined, pour your cake batter into your prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make your chocolate ginger cookie crumbs, line a cookie or oven tray with baking or parchment paper. Add your plain flour, cornflour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cocoa powder to a mixing bowl. Melt your butter, then add to your flour mixture and stir until lumpy crumbs form. Spread out onto prepared tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
- To make your caramel frosting, beat your butter until creamy, then sift in the icing sugar, one cup at a time. Then add your caramel sauce and beat until a fluffy frosting forms. If it’s too thick, you could add a tablespoon of milk, or too thin, an extra tablespoon of sugar. Frost the top of your cake, then generously sprinkle over your chocolate ginger crumbs.
Notes
*I like my gingerbread cake to have a strong ginger flavour but if you are making this for the kids, take it down to just 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice of cake
- Calories: 450
Keywords: Gingerbread, Christmas, Cake, Caramel, Ginger, Molasses, Cookies
This looks great! How would you recommend adjusting the measurements to make a 2-layer cake? I’m thinking double the cake mixture and frosting, but maybe I need 3x for the frosting so I can get the sides too? Thanks!!
★★★★★
Hi Shelby, yes you could double the cake! And yes, I think tripling the frosting is a good idea! Hope you enjoy it.
I made this cake as a dessert for friends and it was so yummy! The Caramel frosting and cookie crumb – wow!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that Sarah! This is one of my faves too!
This cake is amazing!
★★★★★
Thanks Josh!
This looks like the perfect addition to any celebration spread. I love the ginger cookies on top! Beautiful!
Yes to all of the holiday treats! The only problem is, now I’m on a diet when everyone else is doing their holiday baking! Lol. This looks amazing!
No Ashley no, it’s just not fair! 😉
This is gorgeous, Jess! I can only imagine how delicious it is. And I love those cookie crumbs on top!
Thanks Beeta! 🙂
I just need to tell you how much I love this cake. Everything about it is perfect – but the crumb topping in particular is what is putting me over the pleasure edge here. I’m all about the crumb!
Thanks Jessie! I love those crumbs too!
Ohhh wow this cake looks awesome! I’d totally make it my breakfast cake with a cup of hot coffee 🙂
Perfect for breakfast, lunch and tea Sues!
Oh gosh that cookie crumble on the top looks awesome! I need to make two batches of that — one for the cake, and one to devour on my own.
Yes! That is such a good idea!! 🙂
Holy guacamole this looks good! You totally had me at spiced gingerbread cake – but when I saw that you added caramel frosting?! I totally need to make this as it will please both gingerbread and caramel lovers!
Thank you so much Kristy!