Gingerbread Latte Cake
This perfect gingerbread latte cake is an extra soft and moist spiced gingerbread cake soaked with sweet, spiced, milky espresso and frosted with delectable espresso cream cheese frosting. It’s so incredibly soft, packed full of warm Christmas flavor, with the most irresistible texture from the latte soak, almost like a tres leches, but not quite as wet. The perfect gingerbread cake to bake this Christmas season!
What makes this gingerbread latte cake so good?
We’ve got a lot of amazing components working together here to bring this Christmas cake to life:
- Perfectly soft and fluffy gingerbread cake– This cake is incredibly soft and full of warm Christmas spices, like ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, bringing all the holiday flavors! The molasses and buttermilk work together to give the cake the most lush texture.
- Latte soak- We’ll be mixing together espresso, milk, sweetened condensed milk, spices and vanilla extract. After the cake bakes, it will get poked with small holes, and this delicious mixture will get poured over the cake, allowing it to soak up all that coffee goodness!
- Espresso cream cheese frosting- Adding a bit of espresso powder to the cream cheese frosting adds an extra rich coffee flavor to the cake. It’s silky, fluffy and makes each bite of cake just completely melt in your mouth!
For the full recipe, including measurements, step by step instructions, and bake time, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a brief overview!
Tips for baking a soft gingerbread cake
Room Temperature Ingredients- You’ll have the best textured cake if you use room temperature ingredients instead of cold. Cold wet ingredients, like molasses, eggs, and buttermilk, can cause the cake to bake with more of gummy consistency, and we don’t want that. We want a moist and fluffy pumpkin cake!
Mixing the Batter- You’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until pale in color and fluffy, and the eggs and molasses should be mixed in until smooth. It’s okay at this point to mix a lot, however, mix the dry ingredients on low speed just until they are blended into the wet ingredients to avoid an overly dense cake.
Measuring Your Flour Properly- If you learn anything from making this recipe, please let it be this: measure your flour (and all other ingredients) with a digital kitchen scale. Please don’t don’t scoop your measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to inaccurate flour measurements and therefore, a wonky bake.
Baking Pan- I recommend using a light colored metal baking pan. This will help to ensure that the pumpkin cake gets baked evenly. A glass or dark colored baking pan can cause baking variations, like the cake baking too quickly, being over-baked in some areas, while underbaked in others.
Gingerbread Latte Cake FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge, for three days. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before enjoying for the best texture!
I have been on my own gluten free journey lately and have found that most of my recipes turn out great GF- Hooray! There is a caveat though, I can only say the recipe will come out good with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour. This is not sponsored, but my true opinion. This is the only gluten free flour I use as it bakes most similarly to regular, all-purpose flour.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it but mixing 3/4 cup (180 ml) of whole milk with 2 1/4 tsp of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar.
If you make this cake, please leave a star review! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see your creation! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Other Christmas Recipes to Try
Gingerbread Latte Cake
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (170 g) unsulphured molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup (180 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
For the Latte Soak
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) espresso or strong coffee
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (150 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, cold
- 2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- pinch of cloves
Instructions
For the Gingerbread Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9 inch light metal baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tbsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the granulated white sugar, brown sugar, and butter to a large bowl. Cream together for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.(You can also use the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.)10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened , 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated white sugar, 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar, packed
- Then add in the eggs, molasses and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth, about 1 minute.3 eggs, at room temperature, 1/2 cup (170 g) unsulphured molasses, 1 tsp vanilla
- Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the molasses mixture, mixing on low speed just until all is combined and the batter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.3/4 cup (180 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- Pour the gingerbread cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 34-39 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the center. (35 minutes is usually perfect.)
- Let the warm cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Then carefully lift up on the parchment paper to release the cake from the pan and continue to cool on the wire rack until the cake is completely cool.
For the Latte Soak
- While the cake cools, make the latte milk soak by mixing together the espresso, milk, sweetened condensed milk, spices and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup or something easily poured from.1/4 cup (60 ml) espresso or strong coffee, 1/3 cup (80 ml) whole milk, 1/2 cup (150 g) sweetened condensed milk, 1/8 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla
For the Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- While the cake cools, make the cream cheese frosting by adding the butter to a large bowl. Whip the butter on high speed with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, 5-10 minutes.1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Then add in the cold cream cheese and mix on medium speed until combined and fluffy.8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, cold
- Sift in the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix on low speed until all is combined, then on high speed for about 1 minute until fluffy.2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar
- Dissolve the instant espresso powder into the vanilla extract in a small ramekin. Then add it to the frosting, along with the spices, and mix on medium-low speed until combined, then on high speed until light and fluffy again.1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp instant espresso powder, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 cup ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ground allspice, pinch of cloves
Assembling the Cake
- When the cake is completely cooled, cut a very thin layer off the top of the cake using a sharp knife. This will make it easier for the latte mixture to absorb into the cake. Transfer it to a serving plate. Poke holes on the top of the cake using a wooden stick or the handle of a wooden spoon.(I used the handle of a honey dipper for smaller holes.)
- Slowly pour the latte mixture on top of the cake. It is thin so it should absorb into the cake and the poked holes easily, but do be patient as it does.
- Frost the top of the cake with a thick layer of espresso cream cheese frosting using an offset spatula. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the frosting, then cut into 16 slices and serve!
