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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
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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*I originally shared this recipe November 2015. Updated December 2018 and December 2023.
Adapted this to be vegan by switching to plant butter and the Bobs Red Mill egg replacer. I also used a Bundt pan. Came out absolutely perfect. Thank you so much. I wish I could rate the recipe as it is, but the adjustments were small enough that I am confident it would be just as good as written. Thank you!
Could this recipe be used in silicone small gingerbread village houses molds?
No, for that you’ll want to use real gingerbread (not cake). https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/gingerbread-house/
My whole family loves this. We used Gluten free flour (the 1 for 1 from Bob’s Mill) and it came out amazing. The bananas are such a delicious and unexpected addition. We’re making it for the second time because the first cake disappeared quickly!
My Mom used to make gingerbread cake when I was growing up and I used to help her make it. This recipe looked very similar but I found the amount of molasses overpowered the cake. I’m not sure if I used the right kind of molasses or maybe it was a bit past it’s date.
Any suggestions?
Maybe try treacle or golden syrup instead or just use honey.
I made this for the first time yesterday and I also got the same issue with the molasses. The cake came out as dark brown. When I tasted it, I thought it was burnt, but when I looked at it, the cake was baked perfectly. Then I realised the taste was coming from the molasses- it’s a little bitter, almost like a malt /extra stout Guinness. I just Googled and turns out there are different types of Molasses so I guess that’s the the issue!
I won’t mind trying it again if I can find the right molasses in my country.
The first time I made this it was very good; probably 4 1/2 stars. The second time I did a rounded teaspoon of cinnamon (Vietnamese) and TWO teaspons of ground ginger. Fabulous! It was even better the next day, when it had sat overnight at room temperature.
I used 1 cup of red whole wheat flour, and 1 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour.
This is definitely a repeat.
I made this today using stevia, gluten-free flour, and 3/4 C. chopped walnuts. It is delicious without any topping. Next time I’ll add more nuts. Thanks for this recipe!
Smells like fall & tastes even better. This was my first attempt at making homemade gingerbread cake. I made it for my sister’s birthday because she doesn’t like icing. Im making homemade whipped topping for it and that should make it perfect for us. Thank you for the yummy recipe!
I had been craving gingerbread for a while now, and came across this recipe. It was delicious! I agree with the other comments to check on it early – mine was done at 30 minutes, as well. Super easy to put together, too – I made the sauce and whipped cream as the cake was cooling.
The recipe says to remove the sauce from the heat and add vanilla extract. Vanilla, by far the most complex flavor on earth, is composed of an estimated 500+ different flavor molecules. Some are present at a concentration of only a few parts per million, yet contribute to the amazing symphony of flavors that is vanilla.
Regardless of whether one is using vanilla extract or te scrapings of vanilla beans, these flavor molecules begin to break down when they reach a temperature of 161° Farenheit or 62° Celsius.
The vanilla sauce will taste much better if you wait a few minutes afte removing it fom the heat before adding the vanilla. Use a thermometer to make sure the sauce temperature has fallen to 160° F/61° C before adding the vanilla.
Your taste buds will thank you!
Thank you for this information! Awesome to know!
This cake was easy to make and smelled liked Christmas Day! I make this for my husband, it is one of his favorite cakes and our whole family loved it! Even our 2 year old grandchild! I serve with whip cream which is how we like it. This is definitely a keeper recipe for this family. My only critique is that I set the timer for 30 minutes and it was done then. I could tell since of course you could smell it-which is a good indicator that it is ready to come out! Thanks!