Classic Gingerbread Cake with a rich molasses, cinnamon and ginger flavor is fuss free and the perfect holiday breakfast. Also works great as part of your dessert table.
This Classic Gingerbread Cake is like the Gingerbread loaf from Starbucks without the icing and it is the perfect slice of cake for your morning coffee or for easy holiday office treats. The flavors are strong, sweet, slightly spicy from the ginger and scream holidays. 
This post is going to be the last one until after Christmas but I will be back next week with more delicious recipes, so I hope you all have a happy, family filled weekend whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or whether you’re just enjoying a quiet long weekend at home (hopefully with an extra day off work!).
We’re celebrating Chrismakkuh here, so the kids are going to be swimming in presents, latkes, all things Christmas and lots of Gingerbread Cookies and Gingerbread Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup. If you’d like to learn the history of Chrismakkuh look at this Seth Cohen video from the OC. 
My original recipe shows the whole recipe written out and an added footnote to the bottom that looks like applesauce was added in at a later date. So hey, recipe testing over the years! This Classic Gingerbread Cake has been recipe tested over the years and is ready for your holiday table. 
Happy Holidays everyone, thank you for an AWESOME year and next week will have a couple of recipes and some of the year end superlatives I love to revisit.
Tools used in this Classic Gingerbread Cake Recipe:
Baking Pan: Love this baking pan for the perfectly angled sides that allow the cake to cook and rise evenly and high against the sides of the pan.
Unsulphured Molasses: There are many kinds of molasses, the kind used in this recipe is unsulphured which is my molasses recommendation in all gingerbread baking. I use Grandma’s because it is most widely available, but I also love Brer Rabbit brand in the mild flavor when I can find it.
Applesauce: Any applesauce will work here, but we all love Musselman’s because its a brand that has been around over 60 years, all the apples are grown in the US and the only added ingredient is absorbic acid and the flavor is fantastic. That being said… I have definitely used one of the kids applesauce pouches in a pinch too, haha.
Classic Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup applesauce (optional, but will add to moistness of cake)
- 1 cup hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Butter and flour or use baking spray with a 9 inch square pan.
- In a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until lightened in color and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses until fully combined.
- Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until just combined.
- With a whisk, add in the hot water and applesauce (using the stand mixer would make a mess with the water and pouring in the water slowly would cause the flour to over-mix).
Bake for 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven until the cake springs back up when touched or a knife comes out clean
I always read comments to see how others’ tries at a recipe came out. After doing so, I decided (for personal taste reasons) to reduce the molasses by 1/4 cup and increase the sugar by 1/4th cup. Everything else I left as is. WOW! I grew up eating a box mix gingerbread during the holidays which was extremely good. I wanted to try from scratch for a more homemade taste and this definitely worked. I topped it with organic whipped cream (from a can – Whole Foods brand)… I had two large helpings and my mom and brother (who are picky) loved it! This is a keeper and brings me back to fall and winter holidays when I was a kid. Just excellent! Thank you for this recipe. 😉
Thanks for the 5 stars, Christine.
Very good and easy to make. I found the first cake moist but not very sweet. Made a second and used 1 cup sugar. Will make again. Had friends ask for recipe. Topped with homemade whipped cream and caramel sauce. Loved it.
Just what I been looking for ginger bread recipe that is so good.
This ginger cake recipe is just what I need! Unfortunately, I don’t have an oven. Can you make it in a 6 qt. crockpot?
I’ve not tested it before so I’m not sure. You might be able to find a crockpot cake recipe online and use that as a guideline. Good luck!
Can you suggest how to re-heat this cake? I would like to serve it warm with whipped cream and/or ice cream.
To reheat it in the oven, place the cake on a foil-lined baking sheet in a cold oven and turn the oven to 250 degrees. Bake just until the cake is moist and warm-not hot, about 8 to 15 minutes or you can pop it in the microwave. Hope this helps!
Can you adjust for 9×13 pan?
Sorry I didn’t see this earlier. You can, but you’ll want to cook for less time, depending on your oven. I would recommend increasing the ingredients by 50% more so that it’s not too flat.
This cake is really good. I wanted something to welcome in fall. This fit the bill. It was moist and very flavorful. I like melting down lemon icing and pouring over the cake slices, before serving . Lemon and Gingerbread are a great couple. There was not a crumb left in the pan. This recipe is a definitely a keeper.
So glad you liked it! And I’m loving the idea of a lemon “sauce”. YUM!