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
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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
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*I originally shared this recipe November 2015. Updated December 2018 and December 2023.
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I made this yesterday and served it with whipped cream and vanilla icecream. I didn’t make the vanilla sauce. Everyone liked the flavor! My one criticism is that the bake time is too, too long. I baked for 35 minutes at 350F and the bottom of the cake burned. My oven does not run hot. I am guessing a bake time of 27-30 minutes would have been enough and produce a moister cake. I regret not checking it!
I tweaked this recipe, only using 1/2 cup molasses, 1 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup Goslings Black Rum, 1/4 cup raw cane sugar,. Additionally adding 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Reduce hot water to 3/4 cup. The raw sugar gave it a nice texture. It was not overly sweet. The Black rum gave an old fashioned Caribbean flavor. If you think the molasses is overwhelming try this instead. Light and flavorful.
My apologies Bermuda. I should have said Goslings , Black Seal, 80 Proof Bermuda Black Rum lends a special Bermudian flavor, satisfying to a selective palette.
I made this gingerbread. Was disappointed! Thought 1 cup of molasses was to much…..very overwhelming!! Will try another recipe sometime. Sorry for a bad review.😔
Hi, Darla and Nella. I have seen a few peope make comments about the molasses. It is not specified in the recipe but there are 2 different kinds of molasses. One is unsulfured (which is lighter flavor) and the other is just molasses or Black Strap molasses which is VERY strong. It can overwhelm a recipe, even though black strap is very good for you nutritionally. Try the recipe again using Unsulfered molasses. It will be printed on the front of the jar. Hope this helps.
I made this recipe and was so disappointed!!! 1 cup of molasses was way too much! Very overwhelming taste!
I feel the same way- I have been searching the comments to see if anyone else felt the same. My cake came out extremely dark also
This cake reminds my of Christmas when I was a little girl- my mom used to make a similar cake with warm vanilla sauce. One thing I did is poke holes in the warm cake and pour half of the warm vanilla sauce over the cake. It soaked in and was so moist and gooey. I served it with extra sauce and real whipped cream. Thanks for the memories!
Can I make this recipe in a bundt cake pan?
Are you able to freeze the cake and frosting? I need to make it ahead of time for Christmas.
I would store the frosting in the fridge and reheat when it’s time (it will keep for a week or so). The gingerbread cake is really best fresh, but you could try freezing it (I haven’t tested it, but I’m afraid it might be a bit dry, reheated).
LOVED this! I’m planning on taking it to a Christmas dinner this year. Have you ever made the batter then waited several hours to bake it? If so, how would I adjust the baking time/temp? Thanks!
Hi Josie, sorry I wouldn’t recommend making the batter ahead of time. Hope everyone loves it on Christmas!
I have not made this yet but do you think that I could make this into a 2 layer cake and frost it with butter cream?
Yes, that should be fine 🙂
Made this last weekend. Love it so, and it’s now making me want to make it for gifts for everyone. So delicious.. I love molasses & put it on my ice cream all the time. This is truly going to be my new favorite. Thank you so much for creating and sharing!!