Moist Gingerbread Cake Recipe

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This old-fashioned gingerbread cake is perfectly moist and deliciously spiced with all of your favorite holiday flavors! Enjoy your molasses-sweetened cake with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or a dollop of ice cream. Your Christmas guests will gobble it up!

Why You’ll Love This Gingerbread Cake

When you hear the word “gingerbread,” what goes through your mind? Is it small, people-shaped cookies? Maybe it’s a candy-coated house. Ever since making this recipe, the only thing that goes through my mind is this heavenly old-fashioned gingerbread cake!

Today’s molasses-sweetened treat is a moist and spicy cake that will fill your house with the smells of the holidays. Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and more will waft from room to room until suddenly everyone is in the kitchen asking when it’ll be ready to eat. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to whip up, so the answer can be “soon!”

The warming scent of this cake makes me think of Christmas instantly, and I know your guests would devour it. I love serving a slice of gingerbread slightly warmed with salted caramel sauce and a dollop of whipped cream on top, but you could get a little more adventurous and try a slather of pumpkin butter!

Key Ingredients for Moist Gingerbread

This is another one of those recipes that seems super complicated and decadent but doesn’t call for unusual ingredients. You’ll start with classic cake ingredients, and then add spices and sweetener to build the cake with robust flavoring that you’re going to adore!

Sugar
Butter
Egg
All-Purpose Flour
Baking Soda
Salt
Molasses
Buttermilk
Spices: Ginger, cinnamon, cloves

How to Make Traditional Gingerbread Cake

Step 1: Preheat

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2: Prepare Baking Pan

Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 square baking pan. Set it aside for later use.

Step 3: Mix Wet Ingredients

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter, and then add the egg and mix well. Finally, mix in the molasses and buttermilk.

Step 4: Mix Dry Ingredients + Combine

In a smaller bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and then slowly add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture. Pour the fully combined batter into your prepared pan.

Step 5: Bake

Bake your gingerbread for 50-55 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for a while before serving.

FAQs

What flavors go with gingerbread cake?

The flavors of gingerbread cake lend themselves to so many different pairings! My favorite way to enjoy this cake is with caramel sauce and ice cream, but you can also eat it with chocolate icing or glaze. A hint of citrus also pairs well with the spices in this cake, and if you’re looking for a beverage that pairs well – anything with a slightly bitter taste like tea or coffee will be great with a sweet moist cake like this!

What is the difference between a ginger cake and a gingerbread cake?

The difference between the two is that ginger cake is predominantly ginger. Gingerbread is made with ginger and additional fall spices like, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

How long will gingerbread last?

You can keep your gingerbread at room temperature in an airtight container for about 5 days, but trust me, it won’t last that long without getting eaten! You can also put it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week, but keep in mind that the longer it’s in the cooler temps the more it’ll dry out. If you want to freeze your cake, wrap it up tight and keep it in the freezer for a few months. You can allow it to defrost in the refrigerator and then warm it up in the oven for a few minutes at 350.

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