Easy Spiced Gingerbread Cake with Caramel frosting

‘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

Let’s Bake

Easy Spiced Gingerbread Cake with Caramel frosting

Yield Serves 12 1x

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5 from 4 reviews

Prep: 45 minutesCook: 45 minutesTotal: 1 hour 30 minutes

A soft and moist gingerbread cake, topped with creamy caramel frosting, and homemade chocolate ginger cookie crumbs.

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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 or granulated 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) full fat or whole milk

Chocolate ginger cookie crumbs

• 105 grams (3/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornflour or corn starch
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
• 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Caramel frosting

• 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 250 grams (2 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) caramel sauce, homemade or store bought

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Lightly grease and line an 8-inch cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars for a few minutes until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat again, scraping down the sides, until combined. Add molasses and mix on low until combined.
3. 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.
4. Once the mixture is combined, pour your cake batter into 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: DessertCuisine: American

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