Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This post is sponsored by Frontier Co-op.

This is my kind of cake. The inside is naturally sweetened with honey and molasses, and spiced with my favorite warming spices. No mixer required!

Then I slathered the top with pillowy clouds of cream cheese frosting, because why not? It’s the holiday season. Let’s deck the halls. Bring on the cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

I’ve received several requests for gingerbread cake over the years, and this one delivers. It’s more of a wholesome, hearty cake than a delicate bakery cake, but the frosting balances it all out.

I used my partner Frontier Co-op’s spices, which always smell and taste so fresh. Their Vietnamese cinnamon is sweet like snickerdoodles, rather than fiery like Red Hots.

Frontier Co-op gets their cinnamon from Northern Vietnam, where a community of farmers harvest cinnamon cut from the case of the tree to ensure a high concentration of oil (and flavor).

Combined with ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg, this cake is the perfect holiday treat. As always, please let me know how you like it in the comments!

Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Author: Cookie and Kate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 9 slices 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Baked
Cuisine: American

★★★★★

4.5 from 30 reviews

This wholesome gingerbread cake is topped with rich cream cheese frosting. It’s the perfect holiday treat. Recipe yields 9 slices of cake.

Scale

Ingredients

Cake

1 ⅔ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground Vietnamese cinnamon
1 teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground ginger
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground cloves
¼ teaspoon Frontier Co-op ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup molasses*
½ cup milk of choice
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves, nutmeg and baking soda.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until lightly beaten. Add the honey and molasses and whisk until combined, then whisk in the milk and melted butter.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix just until combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 21 to 25 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Place the cake on a cooling rack and let it cool completely. Wait to make the frosting until the cake has completely cooled.
To prepare the frosting: In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened cream cheese and butter. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer (or your own strength), beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and stir with a spoon until it is incorporated (or else powdered sugar will fly everywhere), then whip the frosting until it’s nice and fluffy.
Spread frosting evenly over the top of the cake. If desired, sift additional cinnamon on top. Then, slice it and serve. This cake is best stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

*Molasses note: The strength of your molasses will determine how intensely flavored your cake is. I used regular (not blackstrap) molasses.

Make it gluten free: Based on similar cakes, I think you can substitute all-purpose gluten-free flour for the wheat flour.

Make cupcakes/muffins: I think you could make 1 dozen muffins out of this batter. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for around 14 to 18 minutes.

▸ Nutrition Information

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

This post was created in partnership with Frontier Co-op and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!

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