This Gingerbread Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting is an easy sheet cake recipe. It’s perfectly spiced, festive, and great for holiday entertaining because it makes 15 servings.
This recipe serves fifteen for just $0.51 per serving. The entire recipe costs $7.71 to make.
Christmas is not complete without gingerbread flavors and recipes. A few of my favorite gingerbread recipes include these Soft Gingerbread Cookies, Gingerbread Oreo Truffles, and Gingerbread Waffles.
The holiday season is a time for family, friends, and baking! But come Christmas day, we want to be able to actually enjoy the day and time with our family without being stuck in the kitchen all day.
This Gingerbread Cake recipe allows you to do just that. It is a simple recipe that yields big results.
This moist cake feeds a crowd, is perfectly spiced with the classic combination of ground ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. And bonus, your house smells AH-mazing while baking this cake.
The gingerbread cake is then topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting that pairs so well with the gingerbread flavor.
You can enjoy a slice as a midday snack or as the main dessert after dinner. There really is no wrong way to enjoy this cake!
Ingredients and Cost
Per Serving Cost: $0.51
Recipe Cost: $7.71
- 3 cups all-purpose flour – $0.57
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger – $0.22
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon – $0.08
- 1 teaspoon salt – $0.01
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves – $0.21
- 1 cup vegetable oil – $0.48
- 1 cup granulated sugar – $0.23
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses – $2.16
- 2 large eggs – $0.20
- 1 cup water – $0.00
- 1 Tablespoon baking soda – $0.03
- 8 oz package cream cheese – $1.96
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter – $0.40
- 4 cups powdered sugar – $1.16
NOTE: The recipe prices are calculated by using grocery store websites. The actual cost of the recipe will vary depending on what ingredients you already have.
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven and spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
- Next, make the cake batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
- Using a different bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, and molasses before adding in the eggs. Whisk until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Mix the wet ingredients with the flour mixture until it is combined.
- Next, boil water in a small saucepan. Then remove from heat and stir in the baking soda.
- Stir the hot water mixture into the cake batter.
- Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack.
- Next, make the cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer for about one minute until it is smooth.
- Then add the butter and beat for another minute.
- Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and beat each time until smooth and creamy. Then mix in the vanilla.
- Finally, frost the cake before slicing and serving.
Recipe Variations
- Instead of cream cheese frosting you can use whipped cream.
- Sometimes I let the cake go bare and just dust it with a little powdered sugar.
Storage Tips
SERVE: You can keep this cake out for about two house before it needs to be covered and refrigerated.
STORE: Place the gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting in an airtight container and store in the fridge.
FREEZE: Space slices of cake on a baking sheet so they are not touching. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for 2 hours or until the pieces of cake are frozen solid. Then, wrap each piece of cake in two layers of plastic wrap and foil. Place the cake pieces in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Frozen this way the cake will keep for about 2-3 months.
DEFROST: Unwrap pieces of gingerbread cake and place them on a platter. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
Cook’s Tools
- Handheld mixer or stand mixer
- Whisk
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Rubber scraper
- Liquid measuring cup
- 9×13-inch baking dish
Recipe FAQs
Generally speaking, most people use the word Gingerbread when referring to cookies or cake. However, sometimes this can be confusing as cookies and cakes are two different items. As a result, some people refer to cookies as Gingerbread and cake as Ginger Cake to better differentiate. I am a person of habit and have been using the word Gingerbread interchangeably for cookies and cake my entire life.
Often, a cake is dry because it was cooked for too long or at too high heat. Ensure your oven is measuring correctly when you preheat it to 350 degrees. And I even set an additional timer on my phone if I am not near the kitchen to hear the oven timer going off. One other tip is to double-check your flour measurements. Measure twice and pour once! Too much flour can result in a dry cake as well.
The iconic ingredient combo that makes up gingerbread is ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Then you add in molasses to deepen and enrich the gingerbread flavor. A match made in Heaven offers the best flavor, making a perfect dessert for the holiday season.
More Gingerbread Desserts
- Gingerbread Cheesecake Dip
- Hanging Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies with Orange Glaze
- Chewy Gingerbread Bars
- Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Gingerbread Oreo Truffles
- Homemade Gingerbread Houses
Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- handheld mixer OR stand mixer
- whisk
- mixing bowls
- measuring cups and spoons
- rubber scraper
- liquid measuring cup
- 9×13-inch baking dish
- wire rack
Ingredients
GINGERBREAD CAKE:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 large eggs room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 8 oz package cream cheese softened
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
PREP OVEN AND PAN:
- Move the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly spray a 13×9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
MAKE THE GINGERBREAD CAKE:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.
- In another large bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, and molasses.
- Add eggs and whisk until smooth.
- Add the molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until evenly combined.
- In a small saucepan bring water to a boil. Remove the water from the heat and stir in the baking soda.
- Whisk the hot water mixture into the batter until just combined.
- Evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan.
BAKE AND COOL CAKE:
- Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1 hour.
- After the cake has cooked for about 50 minutes, prepare the cream cheese frosting.
MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- In a large mixing bowl add the cream cheese, and use a handheld mixer on medium-high speed to beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add in butter, and beat butter until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing in between each addition.
- Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Beat in vanilla until just combined.
TO FINISH:
- Add the frosting to the cake and smooth it into an even layer.
- Slice the cake and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
did you love this recipe?
Share it with me on Facebook and find more recipes on foodfolksandfun for more!
subscribe for new recipes
Get all the latest recipes in your inbox!
connect with us
Make sure to tag #foodfolksandfun on instagram!
We made this over the weekend (can’t wait until Christmas!) and it was wonderful! Perfectly moist and spicy!
I love gingerbread cake, but this cream cheese frosting is indeed the icing on the cake! So yummy!
This was so easy and delicious; definitely all the flavors of the holidays! My whole family loved it!
Made it for Christmas. It was an absolute success. Thanks for sharing!