Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake Recipe
Testing three different recipes yields a bakery quality, old fashioned gingerbread cake recipe perfect for sharing or snacking.
Why this recipe works:
- I tested three recipes before finding this combination of simple ingredients which make for a potent and flavorful cake.
- Five spices- black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and dry mustard make an incredible smokey, spicy and sweet cake.
- The touch of coffee, vanilla and buttermilk provides this cake a rich and moist texture.
- Baking in a shallow square cake pan instead of a loaf pan means the cake bakes more quickly and will be less likely to dry out.
- Dusting with confectioner’s sugar elevates this simple cake into something extraordinary.
Ingredients in Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake:
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- all purpose flour
- light brown & confectioner’s sugar
- baking powder & baking soda
- kosher salt
- cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper, dry mustard
- vanilla paste- Buy HERE
- mild molasses
- brewed strong coffee
- buttermilk (or plain greek yogurt)
- eggs
- unsalted butter
- heavy whipping cream
Special Equipment needed for this recipe:
- TWO 8″ x 8″ inch square baking pans- buy my favorite HERE
- stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand beaters
- wire rack- buy HERE
- paper doily for decorating- purchase at the grocery store or HERE
Other holiday cakes and treats to try:
- Gingerbread Bundt Cake
- Rich Double chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze
- No Bake Peppermint Cheesecake
- Bread Pudding with Pannettone Bread and Vanilla Sauce
- Coconut Cake with Lemon Curd
- Gluten-free Olive Oil Cake
Pro-tips for a perfect Gingerbread Cake:
- Check the date of your spices. If they are more than 3-6 months old, toss them and purchase new. Check out my post all about spices HERE.
- Proper flour measurement is key to a great recipe. Fluff your flour with a whisk, spoon it into a DRY measuring cup, level with a knife. A digital scale is the best way to ensure a perfect amount of flour. Sift all the dry ingredients together to prevent over-mixing.
- Room temperature eggs, butter and buttermilk will ensure a great rise on your cake. Set out these two ingredients an hour before baking.
- Check the temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer.
- Don’t forget to butter and dust your pans well. Dusting you pan with butter, flour and finishing with cocoa powder means you will not have white edges to your cake
My favorite ingredients for this recipe:
- Spices- I love World Spice Market, the Spice House and Penzey’s for buying spices.
- Molasses- Grandma’s Molasses– original is my favorite. it has deep smokey notes and is not too robust.
- Vanilla Paste- Pine & Palm Kitchen vanilla, of course.
- Flour- King Arthur, Gold Medal or Wheat Montana are the flour brands I use most often for everyday baking.
Baking notes and credits:
This recipe is a combination of three recipes I tested. The first recipe was by Dorian Parker who used to work as a caterer with Martha Stewart and Sara Foster. I liked her recipe, but it called for two loaf pans to bake the cakes. It took forever and the end result was a bit dry. But- I loved her use of dry mustard and coffee. It gave the cake an unusual smokey and deep spicy taste which I really liked.
Next I reached out to my trusted New York Times Recipe group on Facebook. We discussed David Lebovitz’s recipe at length, but it was almost too simple. I tried it out and it was good- really moist, but… required fresh ginger. I needed a bit more simplicity.
So then I made the third cake in a square pan, dusted with cocoa powder. Added in buttermilk, kept the dry mustard and coffee and added in ground ginger instead of David Lebovitz’s fresh. I loved the taste of fresh ginger, but I felt it made the recipe a bit more difficult if my readers do not have ginger at home.
I always have fresh ginger- I highly recommend grating in fresh ginger, but if you do not have it- the ground ginger (provided it is fresh and hasn’t been sitting in your pantry for three years) is wonderful, warm and earthy.
No one used vanilla and I found adding in my own vanilla paste was a nice touch. Purchase premium Pine & Palm Vanilla Paste HERE.
Elegant & Simple Gingerbread Cake Recipe
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting pans
- 3 ½ cups All purpose flour
- 1 TBSP Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1 tsp Ground black pepper
- ½ tsp Dry mustard
- 12 tsp Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups Light brown sugar, packed
- 3 large Eggs, beaten
- 1 ½ cups Mild molasses, Do NOT use black strap
- ½ cup Brewed strong coffee
- ½ cup Buttermilk or plain greek yogurt
- 1 TBSP Vanilla Paste
- ¼ cup Confectioner’s sugar- for dusting
- 1 cup Whipped, heavy cream lightly sweetened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 8″ x 8″ square baking pans or round cake pans. Dust lightly with cocoa powder to prevent cake from having white streaks.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, dry mustard and pepper in a large bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow. Add in the sugar and beat for two minutes on medium speed. Add in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Pour in the molasses in a steady stream until fully incorporated. Stir in the coffee, Buttermilk and Vanilla paste -mix for 1 minute on low.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture until it is just combined with the wet ingredients Do not over mix. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and finish stirring by hand to prevent over-mixing.
- Pour the mixture evenly into the two prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. If the cake is browning too quickly, place a piece of foil over the top to prevent drying out.
- Remove cakes from the oven and set to cool on a wire rack. Invert onto a serving tray to serve after 10-15 minutes of rest. Once completely cooled, dust with powdered sugar using a doily to create a beautiful sugar pattern. Serve with whipped cream or salted caramel ice cream.
