My Gingerbread Layer Cake is so cozy and festive! It comes together in just over an hour and is topped with sugared cranberries for a stunning finish. Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Perfect Christmas Cake
If you could take all the festive, wintery elements of the holiday season and bake them into a cake, you’d end up with this gingerbread layer cake. With its warm, spiced gingerbread cake layers, luscious brown sugar frosting, and sparkling sugared cranberry garnish, this is a stunning holiday dessert!
This cake is a fun and pretty twist on classic gingerbread. And yes, it’s a true gingerbread cake; we’re using both molasses and gingerbread spices in the batter. It pairs beautifully with a brown sugar version of my cream cheese frosting–yum.
This is an easy recipe made with a nod to the reverse creaming method, similar to the method I used for my yellow cake. You don’t even need a mixer for the batter! You’ll get three layers that are perfect for stacking (these are slightly less fluffy/more dense than my gingerbread cupcakes to keep them from falling apart on your fork). Scroll down to take a peek at the inside!
What You Need
Let’s go over a few key ingredients you’ll need to make this gingerbread layer cake:
- Molasses. You cannot have gingerbread cake without molasses–it’s as essential as ginger! Use unsulphered molasses and DO NOT use blackstrap molasses.
- Spices. Including ginger (of course!), nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. Cloves and molasses are what really set the gingerbread flavor apart from pumpkin spice and give this cake a more wintry, true-gingerbread flavor than my spice cake or carrot cake.
- Sour cream. Sour cream is our secret weapon for ultimate moisture, tenderness, and flavor. It creates the perfect soft cake crumb. And no, you won’t be able to actually taste the sour cream in the final product! Full-fat, plain greek yogurt would also work here.
- Sugar. I recommend using light brown sugar in both the cake and the frosting. Dark brown would be overpowering and a tad too rich.
- Cream cheese. Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese in your frosting. Do not use the low-fat or spreadable kind!
SAM’S TIP: A bit of hot water helps to bloom the spices and develop the flavor, and it also lightens the crumb of this gingerbread cake. This is very similar to blooming cocoa powder!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Gingerbread Cake
- Whisk together the sugar and dry ingredients until combined, then stir in the butter and oil.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream, then stir in the hot water.
- Divide the batter between two prepared pans and bake for 28 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cream together all ingredients except powdered sugar until smooth.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Level and frost the cake layers, adding more frosting on the layers and a thinner coating on the exterior.
- Decorate as desired.
SAM’S TIP: Sugared cranberries are a fun, colorful addition for decorating the top of the this gingerbread layer cake. They may look complicated, but they’re actually very easy to make–check out my sugared cranberries post for a how-to video!
Frequently Asked Questions
First and foremost, gingerbread is typically a frosting-less, one-layer cake. It’s a bit denser and darker than this recipe, and it is prepared a bit differently than this gingerbread layer cake. Gingerbread is typically served plain or topped with a dollop of whipped cream or warm lemon curd.
I really love pairing this gingerbread layer cake with the frosting I’m sharing here, but you could also use a classic vanilla frosting, stabilized whipped cream frosting, or even lemon frosting.
You’ll want to store your cake in an airtight container, either in the fridge or at room temperature. At room temperature, your cake will last for one day. In the fridge, it will keep for 4-5 days.
I know Christmas baking is still a few weeks away, but I just couldn’t resist sharing this one a bit early 😊
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Gingerbread Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour (335g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed (200g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted (170g)
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil (118ml)
- ¾ cup unsulphured molasses (177ml)
- 3 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream 8 oz/226g
- ⅓ cup very hot water
Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (use full-fat cream cheese) (226g)
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar firmly packed (66g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar (500g)
- 1 Tablespoon heavy cream or milk optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and grease three 8” round cake pans with baking spray and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves).
- Add melted butter and vegetable oil and stir well.
- Stir in molasses.
- Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Finally, stir in hot water. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and ensure batter is uniform and well-combined.
- Evenly divide batter into prepared pans and transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven. Bake for 28 minutes or until centers are set, cake lightly springs back to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow cakes to cool in their pan for 10-15 minutes before running a knife around the edge and carefully inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Combine cream cheese, butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until completely combined. If frosting seems too thick, thin it by adding heavy cream or milk and beating briefly on high speed.
- Level cakes if needed and decorate with frosting. I used an Ateco 848 tip to pipe the swirls on top of the cake seen in the photos.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Cake may be wrapped tightly and frozen, where it will keep for several months.Making in Advance
Cake layers may be made up to 2 days in advance of frosting, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. To prepare cake layers any further in advance, they may also be wrapped tightly and frozen until needed. Frosting may be prepared up to one day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will need to be allowed to warm to room temperature and stirred before it will be usable for frosting the cake.Frosting
This recipe makes enough frosting to decorate the cake as shown in photos (semi-naked decoration and decorative dollops on the top).Sugared Cranberries
See my recipe here for sugared cranberries if you would like to use these to top off your cake – they make a fun and colorful addition!Original Recipe
I originally published a recipe for a Gingerbread layer cake with brown sugar & bourbon frosting in 2015. A number of commenters ran into issues with the original recipe so I have tweaked and revised it to be foolproof in the new version you see published here. If you are looking for the original recipe, you can find the original here. Please note that I am no longer accepting comments on the original recipe.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
I originally shared this gingerbread cake recipe in 2015 but it was giving some readers some issues. As of November 2022 I’ve updated the recipe to be as foolproof as possible and have modified the frosting from a bourbon frosting to a brown sugar cream cheese one, which I think suits the recipe better.
Carla Dilley
I’ve tried this recipe twice – both times with the same result: three cake layers that do not rise in the middle! This is not my first rodeo. I use new baking power & baking soda…room temperature butter & eggs…buttermilk that is not ice cold. I’ve been baking for over 50 years – for a few years professionally – and have NEVER had this issue EVER before. The layers look awful, but taste very good. I will slice off the high edges on each layer and still use them, BUT BEWARE.
Sam
Thank you for the feedback, Carla, and I’m sorry you experienced this. I had someone else report the same thing and while I have never experienced this myself I am going to re-test this recipe and see if I can figure out what’s going on.
Carla Dilley
This is not a reply. It’s an addition to my review above. I should have mentioned that for both attempts I used two Wilton 9” pans and one older pan by The Wilton pans were baked in a large gas oven…the other in a smaller gas oven…with an oven thermometer in each oven. Just wanted to add this information to ensure the problem had nothing to do with my oven, or the correct temperature.
– Carla
Sam
Thank you for the additional information, Carla!
Michelle
I was curious if you ever considered putting a cheesecake in the middle of these layers like others you’ve made.
Sam
I have not, but that sounds really tasty! 🙂
Andrea
The soda to powder ratio seems high. I wonder if the cake sank in the middle because the higher ratio of soda to powder caused too early and too much production of CO2 before the gluten could form? Most baking recipes use about one third to one ratio of soda to powder. Im going to try with a more traditional ratio and see if that works.
Carla Dilley
Hi Andrea. I agree. There is probably an issue of too much leveling agent. Both times that I tried the recipe the layers tested done, but all six sunk in the middle. As reported before, I evened the layers by slicing off the high edges and used four of them to build a cake. It tasted great!
Carol
I don’t have experience with molasses. I know there’s light and dark and maybe one more? Which kind is used for this recipe and do you have any brand recommendations?
Sam
Hi Carol! You will want to use unsulphured molasses for this recipe. Two brands I frequently use are “Grandma’s” brand and “Brer Rabbit” (full flavor). They should say “unsulphured” on the label. I hope that helps! 🙂
Shelby Sousa
I made this cake and it smells wonderful however it slightly sank in the middle even though the tooth pick came out clean. Any idea why this happened? No expired ingredients. Thanks!
Sam
Hmmm if it wasn’t under-baked my best guess would be that the mixture was over-mixed. Is this possible? I hope it still tastes incredible! 🙂
Bridget Crawford
Shelby, I had the same experience, did you ever her an answer as to why this happened?
Sam
Hi Bridget! This can happen if the cake is under-baked. If the cake wasn’t under-baked the other thing that can cause it is over-mixing the batter. 🙁
Carla Dilley
Shelby – I also had the same, sunken in the middle result. So I tried it a second time – exact same bad result. I used new baking soda & power…room temp ingredients…baked two layers in one large gas oven…the other layer in a slightly smaller gas oven – both with oven thermometers. I carefully followed all directions including alternately adding the flour & buttermilk in 1/5 increments…tested doneness with the toothpick test – – all to no avail. Still sunken in the middle.
It’s a delicious cake – just doesn’t rise properly. Hope there’s a fix soon.
Allison
I got married today and made this for our wedding cake so my husband and I could feel festive even though we’re stuck at home. It turned out beautiful and delicious! The cakes came out really moist and the frosting was so creamy and light. Thank you for all of your great recipes, and for being part of this day!
Sam
Congratulations, Allison! I am so thrilled to hear this, thank you so much for commenting and trusting my recipe for your big day! And I am so impressed that you made your own wedding cake! <3
Pamela McCarthy
I’m an experienced baker. Usually follow a recipe as is the first time. Wished I would have gone with my own intuition on this cake, and beat the butter for at least 5 minutes before adding eggs, other wet ingredients. Also would have sifted dry ing a few times; as is, the cake had a dense crumb, and the center never rose properly. Overall, good flavor. Just not the kind of crumb I would say was a keeper, and it was too sweet.
Sam
Sorry to hear it wasn’t a success for you, Pamela.
Diana Dsouza Udani
Hello Sam,
Was hoping for ginger bread cake to prepare for Christmas.
Could you please please give metric versions for the cake as well as filling/topping. Would be very grateful.
Thanks, Diana
Sam
Hi Diana! I don’t have metric measurements for this cake yet but you may want to check out my classic Gingerbread 🙂
CL
I made this cake for Christmas dessert and it was excellent – a great blend of spices and the perfect amount of ginger to make it sing! I made a simple whipped cream and cream cheese frosting and it all turned out to be actually quite light. We were a group of 7 so I halved the recipe and used 3×6″ pans with a baking time of 23 mins. A perfect Christmas dessert! BTW I have also made your chocolate cake and it was outstanding as well!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it! 🙂
Marisa
Hi Cecilia, can I make this cake 1 day ahead? Would you recommend refrigerating it or leaving it out covered? Or maybe I should make a day ahead but assemble the day of? Just trying to do as much ahead of time as possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Sam
Hi Marisa, this cake can be made a day ahead. If I were you, a day or 2 before I’d probably bake the layers, let them cool, then wrap them in plastic wrap and leave them at room temperature. You can also make the frosting a day or 2 in advance and store it in the refrigerator. Then, the day you’d like to serve you can simply assemble everything, just keep in mind that the frosting will firm up in the fridge and you may want to let it sit at room temperature for an hour or longer to make it easy to spread over the cake. I prefer to leave my cakes at room temperature because the refrigerator can dry them out, but if you’re keeping longer than a day or two I would store in an airtight container in the fridge. I hope that helps!
Marisa
Thank you so much for your quick response! I’m excited to make this beautiful cake!
Sara
I want to use this frosting for cupcakes, but I’m worried it might be too thin to pipe on. Do you think it’d be okay, or can you recommend tweaks to ensure its thick enough for piping?
Sam
This one would be a little thin, I would try leaving out the heavy cream. If it’s still not sturdy enough you can add more powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time), but leaving out the heavy cream should make it OK for piping. I hope that helps!
A Different Sarah
Sorry, leaving out the heavy cream isn’t enough! I’m experimenting with adding powdered buttercream to stiffen the icing – it works for plain cream cheese icing, so might work for this. I’ll report back with my findings!
Other than that detail, fantastic recipe! The icing and cake compliment each other so well, and the cranberries just work with it somehow. (I’m not a fan of cranberries in general, so perhaps my liking it says something?)
Sam
Hmm, it’s hard to know without trying it myself but I wonder if cutting the butter to 6 Tbsp would also help, and then you could also always increase the powdered sugar if needed. I am glad you have enjoyed the recipe otherwise!! 🙂
Cecelia
Hi! Beautiful cake! I’m planning to make it for Christmas Day at my in laws. Since I will be making it the day before and I have a three hour journey the day of, I wanted to create a thicker layer of frosting to make sure it doesn’t dry out. Is the frosting recipe as-is enough? Or do you think I should double it? Please let me know and thanks for the recipe!
Sam
Hi Cecelia! I’d recommend increasing the frosting by 50% or even doubling it. Another thing is that this is a pretty thin frosting to make it easy to do the semi-naked frosting, so if you want to fully frost the cake I think I would recommend leaving out the heavy cream, or maybe you could get away with just reducing it to 1 Tbsp so that it is firm enough to spread all over the cake without it sliding off in-transit. I hope that helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions!!! I hope everyone loves the cake! 🙂
Erin
Dried ground or fresh grated ginger?
Sam
Dried ground
Ann Thom
Can the extracted juice of freshly grated ginger be used instead??
Sam
I’ve never baked with the extracted juice like that so I’m not sure how it would work out in terms of flavor intensity, but it’s worth a shot! If you try it let me know how it turns out for you 🙂
Patty Niemann
Can this cake be made into cupcakes? I noticed you do have a gingerbread cupcake recipe but wondered about using this one. It was made for our son’s and daughter-in-law’s wedding reception as a cake “as is’. But now, I’d like to have smaller portions for another reception we are having here at our house for them.
Thoughts, please and thanks.
Sam
Hi Patty! I tried them as cupcakes but didn’t love them that way, which is why I developed the cupcake recipe. I like that one much more for cupcakes, so while you *can* make the gingerbread cake as cupcakes, I like the cupcake recipe I shared better. The biggest difference is they cupcakes are a bit softer and less dense. I hope that helps!
Cassie
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?
Sam
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.
Alisha
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!
Sam
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! 🙂
Alisha
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 🙂
Sam
Hi Alisha! I used unsalted, so yeah I would just use 1/4 – 1/2 tsp if you are using salted butter. I hope you love the cake, Merry Christmas! 🙂
Alisha
Great!!! Thanks so much. I hope so too 🙂 Merriest of Christmases to you as well Sam!