
This Easy Gingerbread Cake is wonderfully spiced, delicious and moist. Try it! It could be your family’s favorite low key dessert for the holidays!
Gingerbread is one of those iconic holiday flavors that just tastes like Christmas! Whether you enjoy making gingerbread houses or drinking gingerbread lattes, this flavor has a definite spot in Christmas tradition.
One way I always celebrate the holidays is by baking. I know this is a tradition of many out there. With all the events and gatherings (in a normal year, of course!), you always need to have a few holiday cookies on hand! There are so many recipes that I love to pull out around now to help me get into the spirit of the season. One recipe that I always start with is my favorite and easy gingerbread cake. It is festive, packed with warm, spicy flavors and it is so simple to put together. Anyone can make this delicious gingerbread cake- it’s almost foolproof!
Why I Love It:
- Whole Ingredients – There are no shortcuts and all the ingredients work perfectly together.
- Bold Flavor: The real ground ginger and rich molasses are the secret ingredients for the flavors.
- Feeds A Crowd: This makes a large sheet cake that can feed everyone at my party.
Step-By-Step
Here are some step-by-step pictures showing you how to make gingerbread cake, along with a few more tips.
To begin, you need to get out all of your winter baking spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. These cozy flavors are what makes gingerbread really stand out. They will also smell fantastic as they bake and will help to put you instantly into the holiday spirit!
In addition to the gingerbread spices, you will need:
- flour
- baking powder and soda
- salt
- butter
- sugar
- molasses
- egg
- buttermilk
Gather these ingredients together and you will be ready for baking this easy gingerbread cake. I do have one little trick to help with the buttermilk. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own! Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to your whole milk. Stir the mix and you have the perfect buttermilk substitute! The gingerbread cake will taste fantastic if you use this buttermilk substitution.
Once you have all of your ingredients, it is time to start baking! As I mentioned, this recipe is very easy to make. The butter and sugar are creamed together until light and fluffy. Then, add the egg and molasses. The dry ingredients are all mixed together and then added to the batter, alternating the dry ingredients with the buttermilk. Once a smooth batter has formed, your baking is almost done!
Pour the batter into a 13×9 inch pan and bake! Once a toothpick comes out cleanly from the center of the cake, it is ready to come out of the oven and to be devoured by you and your family. The smell of warm gingerbread is hard to resist.
Variations
Here are a few different ways to bake with this delicious batter.
- Scoop the batter into two loaf pans and make a gingerbread cake bread.
- Scoop the batter into paper muffin liners and you have just made gingerbread cupcakes!
- I recommend topping the gingerbread cake with whipped cream or powdered sugar but a cream cheese frosting will also taste fantastic.
Rather than have a hard, crunchy gingerbread man, why don’t you opt to make a gingerbread cake instead? It’s the best and low key dessert to bake to get you in the holiday spirit! Great bonus: the delicious smell will fill your home as the tender, soft, flavorful cake bakes to perfection. Some may argue that it is a little early to start celebrating the holiday season but I think you should start celebrating right away!
No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, this gingerbread cake will fit right in to your traditions! So start baking and start with this recipe- you deserve a big slice of homemade cake right about now. Don’t we all?
So, what do you think of this EASY Gingerbread Cake recipe? If you ever make it using this recipe, please come back and comment on this post and let me know!
More Easy Recipes
- The BEST Caramel Apple Spice Cake
- Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Birthday Cake Cookies Recipe {Easy and Fun!}

Easy Gingerbread Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour
Description
This Easy Gingerbread Cake is wonderfully spiced, delicious and moist. It could be your family’s favorite low key dessert for the holidays!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk
- whipped cream for serving if desired
- powdered sugar, for dusting if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and lightly dust with flour.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Beat in egg and molasses.
- Add dry mixture alternating with buttermilk, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool to room temperature or serve warm with whip cream.
- Store leftovers in airtight container.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
I am looking for an easy to make this dessert for Saturday and this is just perfect. Thank you for sharing the recipe. This looks so good. Wish me luck in trying to do this.
Ohhh I would love to do this. Sadly, my kids are not huge fans of gingerbread, but I’m making it anyway. Lol
This is going to be amazing for the holiday! Looks delish and festive.
Nnnniiiicccceeeeeee…I hope to get something very similar to this one because I intend to substitute the buttermilk for non-dairy. Fingers crossed!
I’m a big fan of all things ginger so I’d probably make this. It looks moist and delicious.
Gingerbread cake looks delicious. I would love to try it
Ohhh, we will def have to try this! Love that it only takes 15min to prep. My girls aboslutely LOVE gingerbread – thx for the great idea!
Wow, this is an awesome recipe, Gingerbread cake. I will have to try it, thanks for sharing.
This gingerbread cake looks so delish! And it’s easy to make too?! Even better!!
I am drooling over this cake! It looks amazingly delicious! Mmmmm…! Must try it this weekend!
It sounds so easy. I love easy recipes. Thanks.
I love everything gingerbread! Would love to try this recipe with my daughters.
This looks wonderful. I absolutely love gingerbread anything!
This looks soo yummy! I will have to try it!
oh myyyyy!!! That cake looks soooo so good!!! I can’t wait to bake me some over the weekend.
Gingerbread is one of those treats we only get for a few short months each year. I will be nice to have this cake duuring gingerbread season.
So yummy! A perfect cake for the holidays. I love how easy it is to make as well. 🙂
I love gingerbread cookies, but have never had gingerbread cake. I bet it would taste delicious.
Glad you posted a recipe like this.. I’m always down for easy and delicious treat.
You had me at easy and gingerbread. I’m in love with gingerbread!
This sounds like the perfect balance of gingerbread and cake! I would love to try making this with the kids.
I have never had gingerbread cake but it sounds delicious.
This recipe looks like it would be fun and super yummy to make! I’d love to give it a try for myself one of these days.
I love the idea of a gingerbread cake. I love gingerbread cookies so I bet this would be a hit here too!
I love easy to make recipes and this gingerbread cake one is just perfect for the holidays. I will definitely be making it.
I like gingergread cookies. I’ll have to try this. I bet your house smells so good when this is cooking!
Gingerbread cookies are my parents in law favorites. But never had Gingerbread Cake. This is looks delicious, I would love to have this on Christmas. Sounds perfect!
Very sweet recipe…My families will love this. Surely the kids will love this
My husband absolutely loves ginger bread cake, so if I can execute mine this well i’ll get major brownie points!
Gingerbread cookies are my dad’s favorite cookie. I bet he would love this cake as well! I totally need to make it for him!
It really seems easy to make. I can’t wait to try baking ginger bread.
Omg how easy way to make ginger bread! Really want to try..thanks
My grandmother use to make a soft gingerbread cake when I was a child, what a memory!
These look absolutely amazing!
My family is a huge fan of gingerbread cake since it’s classic and I love how easy to follow your recipe is! Will try baking it this weekend. Thank you so much!
I can tell this cake has the most perfect texture. I love gingerbread too. I will have to try this!
This gingerbread cake looks and sounds really yummy! What a perfect cake for the holiday season!
Oh this looks delicious! I love gingerbread! This will be on my list to try this year!
This looks delicious!! I LOVE gingerbread!
I’ve never had gingerbread cake before. It sounds and looks so delicious!
That does look delicious! This is the season when I make a gingerbread treat and this looks like it!
This looks so easy and delicious. I haven’t made gingerbread anything in a couple years so will have to add this to the holiday bake list this year. Thank you for sharing
That sounds so good! I love this simple recipe with just a dusting on the top. I MIGHT get a little crazy and put cream cheese frosting on mine. LOL
This looks so delicious. I’ve always been a fan of gingerbread treats so I will be making this soon!
This recipe is five stars. Thank you so much for sharing with us Jocelyn.
When I think about ginger I think about cookies and never a cake, wow, that looks so delicious I might need to bake one this weekend
This cake looks absolutely delicious! I would love to have a slice of it.
Wow, this sure looks amazing. I love gingerbread, but I’ve never tried gingerbread cake before. I am definitely going to be giving this a try.
Okay first of all: wow!!!!
This recipe looks incredible and is something I would love to have at all times during the Holidays. I can’t wait to try it! Baking is always a stress reliever for me – and you’re right, now more than ever we all need a treat to take our minds off of the negative.
Thank you so much for this recipe – and that fantastic tip about making your own buttermilk! Love your website!
This looks delicious! I wonder if it would turn out good if you replaced the buttermilk with coconut milk.
This looks like a fun festive dessert to have for the holidays.
This looks tasty. I love the flavor, and I love the texture, too. Texture is extremely important to me when it comes to cake. Om nom nom.
Five stars across the board! I love gingerbread flavor, and I think it’s so cool to find it in a cake recipe. I’ve only ever had it in cookies.
What a delicious recipe. I love gingerbread. It’s the classic fall flavor. I’ve never had it in a cake before. I’ll have to give this a try.