Easy Gingerbread Recipe {Gingerbread Cake}
Quick and easy gingerbread recipe, made with simple ingredients. This old fashioned, classic gingerbread cake is soft, moist, loaded with molasses & spices.
Baking this gingerbread or ginger cake is one of the highlights of my holiday season because it reminds me of home and my mom’s baking. As you know, I am very fond of using ginger in desserts, as can be seen by this Easy Ginger Cake with Ginger Frosting and these Easy Ginger Cookies and of course this Homemade Gingerbread Latte Recipe.
This cake is dense but not gluey, unlike some of the other recipes I have tried. It’s still soft and moist. The recipe is also very versatile and can be used to make layer cakes of even a loaf of bread.
This the best gingerbread recipe!
It’s a family recipe and beats any other recipe I have ever tried. It’s even better than the cakes I have had at bakeries. Use a combination of warm spices like ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Some people also add a little vanilla extract but the classic recipe never had that ingredient.
How do you make soft gingerbread recipe? How do you make homemade gingerbread? How do you make a gingerbread cake recipe?
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Mix in egg and molasses.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, spices and baking soda.
- Dump this dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix.
- Pour hot water and mix until smooth.
- Pour batter in pan.
- Bake and enjoy.
Gingerbread loaf recipe
Pour this batter in a 9 inch loaf pan. Bake it for about 50 minutes but keep a close eye on it after 40 minutes. It’s fully baked when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Simple gingerbread recipe
Simple ingredients and simple instructions is what I love about this Christmas dessert. I bet you already have all the ingredients in your pantry.
Gingerbread icing recipe
I like to pair this cake with cream cheese frosting but my Mom and Grandma always served it with whipped cream. Some people in my family omit frosting altogether and enjoy it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tips for old fashioned/ classic gingerbread
- Don’t use blackstrap/ robust molasses because their flavor is overwhelmingly strong.
- Butter cannot be replaced with oil because that will alter the texture of the cake.
- Use unsalted butter to prevent the cake from becoming too salty.
- Only use all-purpose flour because no other flour I tried yielded the same results.
- Molasses cannot be replaced with honey because that will change the flavor of this classic cake. Some people have made it successfully with maple syrup.
- Adjust the amount of spices, based on your preference.
- Baking powder cannot be used instead of baking soda because it makes this cake rise too much and alters the classic texture.
Other Christmas Desserts/ Ginger Desserts
Gingerbread Recipe (Gingerbread Cake)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Butter, Unsalted
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Molasses, Unsulphered
- 1 Egg, Large
- 2.5 cups All-purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp Baking soda
- 2 tsp Ginger powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp Cloves powder
- 1 cup Water, Boiling hot
- 1 cup Cream cheese frosting, Or whipped cream
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- Add molasses and egg and mix until smooth.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
- Dump this dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combined.
- Add water very carefully and mix until smooth. Don't burn yourself!
- Pour batter in a greased and floured square pan (Dimensions 9x9).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow it to cool down. Then, cut square slices.
- Top off each piece with a swirl of cream cheese frosting or whipped cream and enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Until next time, tata my lovelies!
I’ve been looking for this recipe. However I haven’t made it yet. I want it to be moist! Is this recipe moist? If not, what can I put in it to guarantee moistness?
If you don’t over-bake it, this gingerbread will be very soft and moist.
I must have overbaked it because it turned out pretty dry. I think it’s salvageable with whipped cream (I generally don’t use cream cheese frosting on my gingerbread) and if it’s warmed up, but I have to emphasize DO NOT overbake (and I didn’t think I did).
Can this be used to make cupcakes?
I haven’t tried it to know how the recipe would need to be altered. If you try it, I would love to hear how it goes. However, I just shared these gingerbread cupcakes with cake mix that works very well: https://cakewhiz.com/gingerbread-cupcakes-recipe/