Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
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Isn’t gingerbread just one of the best Christmas flavors? I love this time of year and all the seasonal flavors that come with it! Gingerbread, eggnog, peppermint, pomegranate, orange – some of the best! This moist cake is laced with all the best spices and it’s brimming with robust flavor! And of course we couldn’t leave out the cream cheese frosting! I’m addicted to cream cheese frosting lately, if you are following and haven’t noticed. It goes on just about any kind of cake and the tang of the cream cheese just balances out all the sweetness in the frosting so it’s not overwhelming.
This cake is simply dreamy and it’s perfect for the season at hand! If you are looking for a dessert to impress those you are guests or loved ones this season then don’t pass this one up! You’ll love that it’s a single layer two so it’s much faster than preparing and assembling a layered cake.
If you’d like to decorate with the sparkling cranberries like those pictured here, just follow this link here (if you have cranberries that are too small to fit on a wire rack like mine were, just dry on a wax paper lined baking sheet).
Enjoy!
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Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup unsulphured molasses
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz cream cheese , softened
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Sparkling cranberries and mint leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan (or an 8-inch square. Or a 10-inch springform would work too just reduce baking time slightly). Line bottom with a round of parchment paper (or square if using a square dish) and butter parchment, set aside.
- In a heat proof mixing bowl whisk together boiling water and baking soda. Stir in molasses and granulated sugar, whisking well to dissolve sugar, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder and salt.
- Stir vegetable oil and eggs into molasses mixture, then whisk wet mixture into dry mixture 1/3 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 - 35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then run a knife around edge of cake to loosen and remove ring. Cool completely on a wire rack then frost top with cream cheese frosting and decorate with cranberries and mint leaves if desired.
- For the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and mix until pale and fluffy.
- Recipe source: adapted from Cook's Illustrated via KCET