Gingerbread Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream is a moist cake full of flavors from molasses, ginger, and cinnamon and topped with a salted caramel buttercream frosting. Try my Soft Ginger Cookie for another treat full of ginger and cinnamon spice.
Gingerbread Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream
Yes, gingerbread desserts and treats are usually reserved for the holidays, but why limit yourself to enjoying this moist and flavorful cake? The frosting complements the spice cake perfectly and is enough to pile plenty high on this cake. Or, use some of it on these Chocolate Cupcakes!
Gingerbread Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Ingredients
Molasses: The molasses in the cake is unsulphured molasses. Unsulphured molasses (regular molasses) is richer, thicker, and sweeter than sulphured. It is made with fewer preservatives because it is made with more mature sugarcane. Sulphured molasses has added sulfur dioxide to the younger sugarcane, which can alter the flavor of the recipe.
There is also a variety of molasses called blackstrap. Do not substitute molasses in a recipe (including this one) for blackstrap unless the recipe is very specific about using it.
Room Temperature Ingredients: For best results, have all ingredients (especially butter, eggs, and milk) at room temperature. To be specific, room temperature ingredients should be 65-70°F.
How to Store Leftover Frosting
When ready, cover the cooled gingerbread cake with the frosting. This recipe makes A LOT of frosting, so you may have extra. (Or, if you love a thick layer of frosting, use it all!) But, it’s easy to save. Store it in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Gingerbread Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake
- 9 tablespoons (127.5 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (253 g) molasses, unsulphured
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups (281 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (177 g) water, room temperature
Caramel Sauce
- 1 bag (11 ounces) caramel bits
- ¼ cup (½ stick / 57 g) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (500 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, room temperature
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the molasses and egg. Beat until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add about ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until just combined (don't overmix). Add half the water, followed by another third of the dry ingredients. Pour in the remaining water and add the final third of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake 45-50 minutes. (Check the cake after about 30 minutes; cover with aluminum foil if the edges are getting too dark.) The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove from the oven and let cool as you make the Salted Caramel Buttercream.
Caramel Sauce
- Melt the caramels, butter, and milk in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring after each melting. Set aside.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and caramel sauce in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can reserve some of the caramel sauce to use as a caramel drizzle.)
- Start mixing on low speed until the sugar is incorporated with the butter. Increase the mixing speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Adjust the consistency with milk as needed.
- Spread the buttercream over the cooled gingerbread cake.
- Store unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container and bring it back to room temperature before using it to pipe or frost.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
The Gingerbread Cake was inspired by Taste of Home’s Granny’s Gingerbread Cake.
Hi Amanda, thanks for sharing another delicious recipe FOR FREE!
How on earth do you cope with the often rude, critical comments? It must be very disheartening at times for you, and I feel like people need to remember that great saying: Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve upon the silence?
I love following your page – being in New Zealand, I can’t buy some ingredients you use but hey not a biggie. I really appreciate your generosity.
Thank you so so much, Michelle!! Appreciate you!
To make it a 9×13 cake, would i double the recipe?
You could. I haven’t doubled this recipe, but my assumption would be that baking times might change.
Would this work as cupcakes?
Would this work as cupcakes ?
So good! Perfect for the Holidays if you like gingerbread flavor, but don’t want to make gingerbread cookies or gingerbread men. I did double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 pan. The frosting recipe did not need to be doubled and there was more than enough to frost the 9×13 cake. My cake did sink in the center even though toothpick came out clean. Other reasons for that? Thank you for recipe. Will definitely make again.
The sinking in the center of your cake could be due to a few reasons, even if the toothpick came out clean. Here are the most common causes:
Underbaking: Even if the toothpick came out clean, the center might not have been fully set. Doubling the recipe and using a 9×13 pan could alter baking times significantly, as thicker cakes often need more time to cook evenly.
Solution: Use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the correct temperature and consider baking longer at a slightly lower temperature (e.g., 325°F instead of 350°F) to allow the center to cook through without overbaking the edges.
Overmixing the batter: Overmixing can lead to excess air in the batter, causing the cake to rise quickly and then collapse as it cools.
Solution: Mix until just combined, especially after adding the flour, to avoid overdeveloping the gluten.
Too much leavening: When doubling recipes, leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder) may not scale proportionally. Too much can cause the cake to rise rapidly and then sink.
Solution: Consider scaling back the leavening slightly when doubling the recipe. For example, instead of doubling 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons, use about 1 ¾ teaspoons.
Uneven heat distribution: A 9×13 pan may cause uneven baking, especially in the center, if heat isn’t distributed evenly.
Solution: Rotate the pan halfway through baking, and if possible, use a light-colored metal pan, which conducts heat more evenly.
Excess moisture: Gingerbread recipes often include moist ingredients (molasses, eggs, etc.). If the batter is too wet, it might not set properly in the center.
Solution: Ensure precise measurements and avoid over-measuring wet ingredients.
If doubling, check the cake frequently after the initial recommended baking time and continue baking until the center feels firm and set, even if it takes longer.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan to prevent structural collapse from moving it too soon.
It’s great to hear you enjoyed the flavor and plan to make it again—happy baking! 🎄🍰
I made this cake for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it! The icing was a little too sweet for me, but no one else complained.