This easy Gingerbread Cake recipe is topped with homemade vanilla cream sauce, bananas, and whipped cream. It could be my favorite holiday cake ever!
Do you love gingerbread? Try our Gingerbread Waffles, Ginger Molasses Cookies, Build a Gingerbread House, or make Gingerbread Cookies!
Why I love this cake:
- Light – The texture of this easy gingerbread cake is perfectly light, fluffy, and moist. Plus, your house will smell of freshly baked gingerbread.
- The Toppings – You must add a drizzle of the vanilla cream sauce, with sliced bananas and whipped cream, to get the full experience!
- Family Favorite – My mom shared this recipe with me from one of her best friends (thanks Kristen!) and its been a highlight of our season ever since.
How to make Gingerbread Cake:
Mix Wet Ingredients: Cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the eggs and molasses then mix well.
Stir Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients then slowly pour in the hot water and stir until smooth.
Bake: Pour batter into a 9”x 13” pan. Bake gingerbread cake for 20-35 minutes.
Serve: This classic gingerbread cake recipe is delicious by itself (and totally acceptable to eat it as a stand-alone), but I just can't resist the combination of fresh bananas, whipped cream, and the most amazing warm vanilla cream sauce drizzled on top. It's outstanding!
Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The vanilla cream sauce can be made a few days in advance, stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Rewarm before serving.
To Store: The ginger cake recipe keeps well at room temperature for 2 days, or in the fridge for about a week.
To Freeze: Wrap the gingerbread cake in plastic wrap then aluminum foil, and place in a freezer safe bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight at room temperature before serving. If you'd like it warm, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds.
More Christmas Treats:
- Peppermint Brownies
- Chocolate Fudge
- Homemade Caramels
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
- Red Velvet Bundt Cake
- Super Soft Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 large egg , beaten
- 1 cup unsulphered molasses
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup very hot water
- bananas for topping
- fresh whipped cream , for topping
Vanilla Cream Sauce:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13” pan with cooking spray.
- 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. Slowly pour in the hot water and stir until smooth (batter will be thin).
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Serve warm, topped with fresh sliced bananas, whipped cream, and vanilla cream sauce.
For the Vanilla Cream Sauce:
- Add sugar, butter and cream to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted.
- Bring mixture to a boil then boil, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving over cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow Me
*I originally shared this recipe November 2015. Updated December 2018 and December 2023.
This post contains affiliate links.
How long can you store Ginger cake and/or can you freeze it? Also, have you tried posting it?
Cheers, Katia
I think this is a cake that really tastes best fresh. But, you can make it one day in advance and you can freeze it for up to 2 months.
Did it without icing, too much molasses!
I used to have a similar version for the crockpot, but with a new crockpot my gingerbread has come out burnt. Your recipe is nearly the same and I can just pop it in the oven like a normal person. 🙂 My topping is different though: I whip regular whipping cream with a few scoopfuls of lemon curd. It brightens the entire cake up and I’m betting it will be perfect with your recipe, too. Thanks!
Love it! I doubled the spices… easy and loved the sauce too. Thanks for the great recipe and instructions. My new favorite.
Made it last night – delicious! Light and tasty – a perfect ending to a meal. For a topping we did a little orange/powdered sugar glaze and it was just perfect. Thank you!
How can I adjust the recipe for an 8×8 pan? There’s only my hubby and I and we don’t need that much.
Hi Lori, cut the recipe in half for an 8 inch pan. Enjoy!
Yum! I made this today. I was a little short of a cup of molasses so I added enough brown sugar to make up the difference and added an extra teaspoon of ginger because i love it. I baked mine in a bundt pan for 40 minutes and sprinkled it with powdered sugar after it cooled. My house smells like the holidays. The cake is wonderful even without the sauce!
I made this today and topped it with clotted cream. It was fantastic. The ginger flavor was perfect. This is a keeper for sure.
Thank you for this lovely recipe.
LOVE IT! I made this for my husband’s birthday. His mom used to make something similar and he’s been talking about it since we met, 14 years ago. She passed when he was young, And we don’t have her recipe. I did some Internet searching and found your version. It was an absolute hit. Delicious! And sentimental. Thank you so much for sharing this. I will definitely be making this again. The only alteration I did was adding an extra egg since I am at 5000 feet above sea level. It was perfect.
That is so sweet, thank you so much for sharing. <3
Delicious! It tastes like Christmas! The cake is sonlight and fluffy, and the sauce is perfectly sweetened. I made the recipe exactly as stated, but I made my own homemade cinnamon whipped cream. I will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing!
Do you bake this in a glass or metal pan?
Either would work.