Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (2024)

Julie Clark

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Take a bite of Christmas with this Easy Gingerbread Cake. It’s a small homemade cake with the best gingerbread flavor. Leave plain or top with frosting.

I didn’t grow up loving gingerbread, but in my adult life I can’t get enough of it. Give me a layered gingerbread cake or a simple gingerbread coffee cake. I’ll take it any way!

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (2)

Today we’re sharing a quick homemade cake that I love for several reasons.

  1. It’s small. You bake this in an 9″ square baking pan.
  2. It’s easy. You’ll most likely have these ingredients on hand!
  3. It tastes like Christmas. And who doesn’t love Christmas.

Let’s dig into talking all about this easy gingerbread cake!

Does gingerbread have ginger?

Yes! Gingerbread has powdered ginger in it. It also commonly has molasses which gives it the dark brown look.

What does gingerbread taste like?

Gingerbread gets its flavor from the spices in the bread. You’ll combine ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg to get that spicy, snappy flavor. You can increase the spices if you’d like it to have a stronger flavor.

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (3)

What is the difference between gingerbread and gingersnaps?

Gingerbread is soft and cake like. It’s baked in a loaf pan or in a cake pan and is has the texture of any other sweet bread. Gingersnaps are a crispier cookie that crunch when you eat them. This is where the term “snap” comes from.

How to Make Easy Gingerbread Cake

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch square baking pan by greasing bottom, sides, and corners with butter.
  • Place milk in a saucepan and heat just until it begins to boil. Immediately remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Set aside.
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (4)
  • In a large bowl, whisk together molasses and eggs.
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (5)
  • Add butter to bowl and stir, mashing butter into the sides of the bowl to help reduce the size of the clumps. Some clumps will remain.
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (6)
  • In another bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and spices.
  • Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients alternately with the milk and whisk until smooth.
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (7)
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (8)
  • Transfer batter to baking pan.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place baking pan on a wire rack and cool for about 30 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (9)

Topping for Gingerbread Cake

What is the best topping for gingerbread cake? Here are a few of our favorites:

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (10)

How to Store Gingerbread Cake

With this cake unfrosted, you store it in an airtight container at room temperature. If it dusted with powdered sugar, glaze or frosting, you can also leave it at room temperature.

If you top it with whipped cream you’ll want to store it in the refrigerator.

Can you freeze gingerbread cake?

Yes! This cake freezes well. Seal it well to protect it, then when you are ready to serve the cake, allow it to completely defrost before taking it out of the packaging.

Other Christmas Cake Recipes

  • Christmas Bundt Cake
  • Molasses Spice Cake
  • Easy Spice Cake
  • Eggnog Cake

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (11)

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (12)

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe

4.32 from 19 votes

Take a bite of Christmas with this Easy Gingerbread Cake. It's a small homemade cake with the best gingerbread flavor. Leave plain or top with frosting.

Servings 10

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Print RecipeReview Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch square baking pan by greasing bottom, sides and corners with butter.

  • Place milk in a saucepan and heat just until it begins to boil. Immediately remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Set aside.

  • In a large bowl, whisk together molasses and eggs.

  • Add butter to bowl and stir, mashing butter into the sides of the bowl to help reduce the size of the clumps. Some clumps will remain.

  • In another bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients alternately with the milk and whisk until smooth.

  • Transfer batter to baking pan.

  • Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place baking pan on a wire rack and cool for about 30 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

  • Top with whipped cream, caramel sauce, powdered sugar, or your desired toppings.

Author Julie Clark

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword christmas cake, easy christmas cake, easy spice cake, molasses cake

Have you tried this recipe?

Share a review below or share on Instagram with the tag #tastesoflizzyt.

Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (13)
Easy Gingerbread Cake Recipe {Small 9" Square Christmas Spice Cake} (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between spice cake and gingerbread cake? ›

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.

Why is my gingerbread cake dry? ›

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet.

How long does homemade gingerbread last? ›

This gingerbread will keep for a total of up to two weeks if stored in an airtight container in a cool place, though is at its very best within the first week. So adjust the "eat by" date according to when you made the gingerbread. We would suggest keeping the pieces of cut gingerbread as large as possible.

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

The three distinct types of gingerbread are brown gingerbread, wafer-based gingerbread and honey gingerbread.
  • BROWN GINGERBREAD.
  • WAFER GINGERBREAD.
  • HONEY GINGERBREAD.

What can I use instead of allspice in gingerbread? ›

Combine cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves thoroughly in a small mixing bowl. Use as a 1:1 substitute for 1 tsp of allspice.

How to make a cake more moist? ›

10 WAYS TO MAKE CAKE MOIST
  1. USE THE CORRECT TEMPERATURE AND BAKING TIME. Consider lowering your oven temperature slightly when baking a cake. ...
  2. USE VEGETABLE OIL. ...
  3. USE BUTTERMILK INSTEAD OF MILK. ...
  4. ADD INSTANT PUDDING MIX. ...
  5. ADD MAYONNAISE. ...
  6. USE SIMPLE SYRUP OR GLAZE. ...
  7. USE CAKE FLOUR. ...
  8. DON'T OVERMIX.

How do you fix a dry Christmas cake? ›

Soak your cake in milk

Soaking your cake in milk is one of the best ways to moisten a dry cake.

Does sour cream make cake moist? ›

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Should gingerbread dough be refrigerated? ›

Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.) To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated.

Can I leave gingerbread out overnight? ›

It depends how its prepared and if you used a lot of icing. Also, gingerbread like any other bread turns stale quite fast. Eating it after 1–2 week with tea shouldn't be a problem. The issue is rather that the bread after longer time would become so stale that you would have a hard time eating it.

Can you eat an old gingerbread house? ›

Traditional gingerbread houses, made with a softer gingerbread recipe, are almost always edible, while those made for decoration are usually not. Decorations and icing are typically edible but it's best to always double-check.

Why do you soak fruit in Christmas cake? ›

Soak the fruit overnight so it can absorb the alcohol and plump up.

Why does my ginger cake always sink in the middle? ›

My cake has sunk in the middle.

There are three main reasons for this: a/ the oven door has been opened before the cake has set, b/ the cake didn't go in the oven as soon as the mixture was ready or c/ there's too much raising agent.

What is a substitute for ginger in spice cake? ›

Although there's nothing like freshly ground ginger, there are some replacements you can use if you don't have any on hand.
  1. Ground allspice.
  2. Ground cinnamon.
  3. Ground mace.
  4. Ground nutmeg.
  5. Or use a mix of all 4!
Aug 23, 2018

What's the difference between gingerbread and pumpkin spice? ›

What's The Difference Between Pumpkin Pie Spice And Gingerbread Spice? Both actually include most, if not all, of these same ingredients, though in different amounts. Pumpkin pie spice is heavy on cinnamon, while gingerbread spice has a balance of cinnamon, allspice, and ginger.

What is gingerbread cake made of? ›

In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter until smooth and light. Add the egg and molasses then mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir to combine.

What is spice cake made of? ›

Made with a combination of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, this spice cake recipe is a rich and flavorful dessert you won't be able to get enough of. This cake is so rich, soft, and moist thanks to the combination of oil, applesauce, and buttermilk, and it'll melt in your mouth.

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