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Gingerbread Layer Cake {with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Frosting}

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A cozy, perfectly spiced gingerbread transformed into a layer cake and iced with a delicate, whipped brown sugar & bourbon frosting.

Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello, December.

I don’t know how this month got here so quickly, but here we are, and I’m welcoming the twilight hours of 2015 the best way I know how: with cake.

I can’t think of any better way to herald a month so chock-full-of festivities and my favorite holidays (and most importantly, my birthday 😉 ).

Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

I played Christmas music in the background as I worked my way through four renditions of this cake, and every ounce of Christmas magic that I could muster went into contriving the perfect combination of butter, flour, molasses and spices (I suspect having a Christmas tree in the house would have helped, but our home is still woefully absent one, though I hope to change that this weekend).

While I usually prefer to make my cakes with oil, the attempts made with butter had a clearly superior flavor, and so butter it was.

Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting   Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake is soft, moist, and while it’s slightly heavier than I usually prefer my cakes, it is appropriately so, touched by a generous pouring of rich, dark molasses.  It reminds me of a carrot cake, only minus the carrots, and more strongly spiced.

And forget sugarplums dancing in your head, this frosting is the stuff dreams are made of.  A scant shot of bourbon lends an almost caramel-flavored undertone to the icing, subtle but warm and present.  Whipped into a brown sugar infused cream cheese frosting alongside a freshly split vanilla bean, it is the perfect cozy frosting for this wintry cake.

Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting Gingerbread Layer Cake with Brown Sugar & Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting
I’ve included a second, super easy, recipe below for sugared cranberries, as well, just in case you want to decorate your cake with them, too.  They make for an interesting, sweet-then-tart poppable snack that I’m not personally overly fond of, but that went over well at a family party last weekend (and looked amazing on top of the cake, if I do say so myself).

Happy December.

5 from 7 votes
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Gingerbread Layer Cake {with Brown Sugared Bourbon Frosting}

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup butter softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups brown sugar tightly packed
  • 3 large eggs preferably room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1 cup + 2 Tbsp buttermilk

Brown Sugared Bourbon Frosting

  • 12 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature, 1 & 1/2 packages
  • 12 Tbsp salted butter softened to room temperature, 1 & 1/2 sticks
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar tightly packed
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean or 1 vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp bourbon
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 Tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 3 9-inch round cake pans by lightly greasing and flouring. Set aside.
  2. In KitchenAid, beat the butter on medium-low speed until creamed.
  3. Add molasses and sugars, beat until light, fluffy and well combined (pausing to scrape down sides of bowl as needed).
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition.
  5. Stir in vanilla extract.
  6. In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice) until combined.
  7. With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (add about 1/5 of the flour, as soon as it is mostly combined add about 1/5 of the buttermilk, continuing in this pattern until all of the flour mixture and all of the buttermilk have been added). Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl to be sure ingredients are well-combined.
  8. Evenly divide batter between prepared cake pans.
  9. Bake on 350F for 30-35 minutes (use a toothpick test to ensure done-ness; a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan should come out clean or with crumbs--not batter). Be sure to check each cake separately, as your oven may not cook evenly.
  10. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the inside rim of the cake pan to loosen from the sides. Allow cakes to cool completely in pan before inverting and icing.

Icing

  1. In KitchenAid (or with hand mixer) cream together butter and cream cheese.
  2. Add brown sugar, stirring until combined.
  3. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from the inside and scoop into cream cheese/butter/brown sugar mixture.
  4. Add bourbon and stir until well-combined.
  5. Gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) add powdered sugar to mixture. Pause occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
  6. Increase speed to medium-high and add heavy cream, beat until mixture is lightly whipped.
  7. Once cakes have cooled, ice/assemble cakes by generously icing between layers, applying an even layer on the top of the cake, and then applying a scant, semi-naked layer around the outside of the cake.
  8. Top with sugared cranberries if desired.
5 from 7 votes
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Sugared Cranberries

Servings 3 cups sugared cranberries

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar + 2 cups sugar divided
  • 3 cups fresh cranberries rinsed

Instructions

  1. Set out a wire cookie cooling rack over a piece of wax paper (to catch any spills) and set beside your stove.
  2. In medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine sugar and water, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved (do not let mixture come to a boil, it should just be warm enough to dissolve the sugar).
  3. Add the cranberries and stir well until completely coated.
  4. Use a slotted spoon to remove cranberries from the water and lay out on the wire rack (it's best if the cranberries are not touching each other).
  5. Allow to sit at least an hour (they will become very sticky).
  6. Place your 2 cups sugar in a large bowl and, working in batches (about 1 cup of cranberries at a time) toss the cranberries in the sugar until well-coated.
  7. Return to wire rack and allow to sit at least 1 hour.

 

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Gingerbread Layer Cake with a Brown Sugar & Bourbon Frosting

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Comments

  5. This cake looks absolutely heavenly! I love using molasses when I bake, so I’m loving it in here, and all of the spices too. And those sugared cranberries are just too darn cute.

    Reply

  10. Sam I am blown away. Since the past few months I have been following your blog, this is your most breathtaking post. I love your pics. I can see how much love you put into this piece of art. Thx

    Reply

    • Iram, thank you so, SO much for such a kind comment! Making this cake just right (and photographing it) was definitely a labor of love. Thank you so much for reading 🙂

      Reply

  14. Wanting to make this for Christmas this year, it looks delicious! Is it a moist cake? Also, for the frosting, just to clarify: it is one vanilla bean or one tsp vanilla extract, correct? For some reason (at least on my page) it says one tsp vanilla bean or one vanilla extract. Thanks for the help!

    Reply

    • Hi Beth! Sorry about the delayed response, I hope I’m not too late! Yes, the cake is moist, just be sure not to overbake or to overmix the dry ingredients into the wet. You are correct about the vanilla bean, it may be an issue with my recipe plugin that it’s coming up like that so I’ll fix it. Thanks, and I hope you love the cake!

      Reply

  16. Hi! I’m using salted butter for the cake. What did you use? (I need to skip adding the extra salt if you used unsalted.) Hopefully you can answer in time! If not, I’m sure we’all all live 🙂

    Reply

  17. Hello! I’m a little late but I baked this cake for Christmas and wanted to let everyone know – since everyone’s mainly commented on how beautiful your cake is, which it definitely is, but nonetheless taste is at least half of it too 😉 – this cake is phenomenal! I did not buy all spice and subbed in a slightly smaller measurement of cloves. The first 2 layers didn’t bake as well (kind of flat) but that may have been due to my oven and the 3rd baked beautifully. It was better off as to prevent sliding since I added some milk and my icing was thinner (not recommended). ANYWAYS – the cake was PERFECT, moist, similar to a carrot cake in consistency although not quite as dense (plus), and the flavor was AMAZING. My mom doesn’t even like gingerbread but that night she DID and even had a piece the next day! If anything, I think next time I will add a touch more of ginger to it. Absolutely loved it though. Great recipe!

    Reply

    • Alisha thank you SO MUCH for coming back and letting me know how you liked the cake!!! I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed not only it’s appearance, but the TASTE, too! 🙂

      Reply

  18. Hey there! I’m a little late to the party, but what if I don’t have any equipment, electrical equipment. What do you suggest instead?

    Reply

    • Hmm, do you at least have an electric hand mixer, or none whatsoever? I really recommend using an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugars together.

      Reply

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