Gingerbread Cake
Total Time
50 mins
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Rating
4.9 out of 5 stars
(9)
Ingredients
16 servings
- 2 cups (184 grams*) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup boiling water
- optional toppings: whipped cream, cream cheese frosting or a dusting of powdered sugar
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Preparation
Step 1
Prep oven and pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and sea salt until combined.
Step 3
Mix the remaining ingredients. In a separate large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), use an electric mixer to cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and egg and mix on medium-low speed until combined, pausing to scrape down the sides as needed. Add the dry ingredient mixture and mix on medium-low speed until evenly combined. Add the boiling water and (very carefully) mix on low speed until evenly combined. The batter will be quite thin and liquidy – don’t worry.
Step 4
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Step 5
Serve. Slice, top with any of your desired toppings if desired, then serve and enjoy!
Step 6
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Chef's notes
Use room temperature butter. As always, it’s important to use room temperature butter so that it can properly cream with the sugar to make the cake nice and fluffy.
Don’t worry about the runny batter. Heads up that the batter for this cake will be quite runny once the boiling water is mixed in. Don’t worry — the cake will bake up perfectly after some time in the oven.
Grease your knife. This cake is wonderfully moist and can have the tendency to stick a bit when cutting. So if you want clean slices, lightly grease the knife with a bit of butter.
Adjust the spices to taste. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to gingerbread spices, so feel free to adjust the amounts of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to taste.
Add orange zest:
Add the zest of 1 medium orange to the batter for a citrusy twist.
Add cocoa powder:
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the batter for a chocolatey twist.
Add rum or bourbon:
Replace 2 to 3 tablespoons of boiling water with rum or bourbon (or your favorite liquor) for a boozy twist.
Add nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles:
Unfortunately, most of these add-ins would sink to the bottom of the batter if you try to add them to the actual cake, but feel free to sprinkle on top of the whipped cream or frosting!
Add caramel sauce:
My favorite bourbon caramel sauce would be absolutely heavenly drizzled on this cake too.
