Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect holiday dessert. It will remind you the time-honored gingerbread cake that grandma made.

Course cake

Cuisine American

Keyword cake, Christmas cake, Christmas dessert, gingerbread, gingerbread cake, gingerbread recipe, holiday cake, holiday dessert

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 45

Servings

Calories 616kcal

Author Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter softened
1 egg
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup hot water

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 box 8 ounces cream cheese softened
6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8x11 inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg; set aside.
Using mixer cream brown sugar and butter. Stir in egg, molasses and applesauce. Add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture in four intervals; stirring just until combined after each interval. Stir in hot water and mix just until combined. Pour in baking dish.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in salt and vanilla. Add powdered sugar in 4 intervals mixing well between each interval. Frost cooled cake and store leftovers in refrigerator.

Notes

Grease and flour your pan well. I use Baker's Joy spray which combines baking spray with flour.
Preheat your oven and load the cake in the center of the oven.
Use unsulphured light molasses. This molasses works best in this recipe.
I use my mixer to cream the butter and the sugar for the cake and for the entire frosting recipe. However the rest of the cake I stir together by hand.
Check the cake at forty minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean remove the cake from the oven.
Allow the cake to fully cool before frosting therefore move it away from the hot oven and place on a cooking rack so the cooler air will flow underneath.

Nutrition