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4.91 from 21 ratings

Gingerbread Layer Cake

Yield: 8 slices
Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 28 minutes
Decorating Time: 2 hours
Soft gingerbread layer cake full of warm Christmas spices, frosted with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and topped with a caramel drip.
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Ingredients

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

  • 1 cup granulated sugar, 200 g
  • 5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, 70 g
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature, 120 ml
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (depending on preference)

For the Gingerbread Cake

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (please see notes), 282 g
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, 140 g
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed, 110 g
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 100 g
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses, 170 g
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature, 180 ml

For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened , 280 g
  • 6 oz. cream cheese, cold, 170 g
  • 4 oz. high quality white chocolate, chopped, 114 g
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, 390 g

Instructions
 

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

  • Add granulated white sugar to a large sauce pan and heat it over medium low heat. As the sugar is heating it will crystalize and then eventually all melt down and turn golden in color. When most of the sugar has melted, but there are still a few crystalized clumps, turn the heat down to low so the melted sugar doesn't burn. (Melting all the sugar takes around 20 minutes.)
  • Once all the sugar has melted and turned golden in color, add in room temperature butter right away. Stir quickly until the butter is incorporated.
  • Then add in room temperature heavy cream and stir quickly again to incorporate everything together. (At this point if you see the butter and cream start to separate from the sugar turn the heat up to medium low and stir vigorously to combine everything together. This can happen if your butter and cream aren't room temperature.)
  • Lastly, add in salt and vanilla and stir to combine.
  • To make the caramel sauce thicker, let it simmer on low for 3-5 minutes, then remove it from the heat and allow to cool completely before using on the cake.

For the Gingerbread Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice and ground cloves. Set aside.
  • Add the butter, brown sugar and granulated white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or large bowl if you're using a hand mixer). Cream together for 1-2 minutes.
  • Then add in eggs, vanilla and molasses. Mix until smooth, about 1 minute.
  • Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in a little at a time until all is combined.
  • Evenly divide the batter between 3 6" cake pans. (It helps to use a kitchen scale for this.)
  • Bake the cakes at for 28-30 minutes, or until a cake tester/toothpick comes out clean from the centers.
  • Let the cakes cool in the pans for a two minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

For the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Melt the chopped white chocolate and set aside to cool slightly.
  • Add the softened, unsalted butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wisk attachment (or large bowl if using a hand mixer.) Whip the butter until it is very pale in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • Add in the cold cream cheese and mix until combined.
  • Then add in the slightly cooled white chocolate. It should be liquid still and almost room temperature. Mix until fluffy again. (If it's too warm the white chocolate can melt the butter, and if you wait until it's too cooled, it can solidify when you mix it into the butter. You'll want to add it when it's just about room temperature.)
  • Then sift in the powdered sugar a cup at a time. Mix until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.

Assembling the Cake

  • GETTING PERFECTLY SIZED CAKE LAYERS
    The cakes should not dome very much while baking, but if they do and cannot be easily evenly stacked, simply cut the top part off of each cake with a sharp knife. Freezing the layers for 30 minutes-1 hour each before attempting to cut the domes off, helps to get clean cuts. (Wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap before freezing to keep them fresh.)
  • FILLING THE CAKE LAYERS
    See tips in the notes on trouble shooting frosting while assembling the cake.
    Then place a dollop of white chocolate cream cheese frosting in the center of your cake turntable. Place the first cake layer over it. Then add a generous amount of frosting on top of the cake layer and even it out with your offset spatula, turning the cake turntable as you go. Place the next layer over top and repeat the step. Then place the final layer over the top. Add some the frosting to a piping bag with a large opening, or fitted with a large circular tip. Pipe frosting into the "holes" between each cake layer. Then with your cake scraper, scrape the icing across the cake, turning the cake turntable as you go to make this as easy as possible. This is meant to just get everything even before applying the crumb layer. At this point consider inserting plastic drinking straws into the cake to keep it from leaning in a certain direction. Pop the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to allow the inside frosting layers to firm up a bit. (This will make applying the crumb layer easier.)
  • CREATING THE CRUMB LAYER
    With your offset spatula place dollops of frosting on the outsides and top of the cake. Even out the frosting as much as possible with your spatula. Then with your cake scraper, scrape the icing evenly across the cake, turning the cake turntable as you go to make this as easy as possible. This layer of frosting should be thin. This is called the ‘crumb layer’ and will ensure that the cake’s final coating of frosting is smooth and free of crumbs. Then place the cake in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
  • FOR THE FINAL FROSTING LAYER
    Once the cake has chilled in the fridge, remove it and apply another layer of frosting. Apply generous dollops of frosting on the sides and top of the cake and smooth them out with your offset spatula. Then with your cake scraper even out the frosting, turning the cake turntable as you go, to give you an even coating of frosting. Pop the cake back in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, then repeat the step and add a final layer of frosting.
  • FOR THE CARAMEL DRIP
    You'll want to add the caramel and the rest of the decorations right before serving the cake. The caramel will continue to drip down the cake and can cause the decorative frosting on top to slide around. It's best to decorate it and then serve right away! 
    Transfer the completely cooled caramel to a piping bag with a small opening, or fitted with a small circular tip. Go around the top edges of the cake and squeeze the caramel so it starts to drip down the sides of the cake. A good tip is to space out your drips about every half inch. If at first it doesn’t look like it will be a long enough drip, wait a few minutes. The caramel will continue to drip down the sides of the cake. Also squeeze caramel around the top of the cake and smooth it out slightly with a clean offset spatula. As it sits the caramel will smooth out and come together to form a beautiful finish on top of the cake.
  • DECORATING THE CAKE
    Transfer the remaining frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. (My favorite is my Wilton 1M.) Pipe decorative dollops around the top edges of the cake. Then decorate the top of the cake with gingerbread people or whatever else you think would look beautiful! Serve this cake right away. Store left overs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days for the freshest, best flavor.

Notes

Tools for decorating the cake:
  • an offset spatula
  • a sharp knife
  • an icing piping bag fitted with a small circular tip
  • an icing piping bag fitted with a large star tip (Wilton 1M is my favorite)
  • an icing bag with a large opening or fitted with a large circular tip
Measure your flour properly. This is always my #1 baking tip. Do not ever scoop a measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to using too much flour. (Trust me, I've learned the hard way that I need to measure properly!) Instead sprinkle spoonfuls of flour into your measuring cup and swipe excess flour off with the back of a knife. Or better yet, weigh your flour. 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams.
On troubleshooting the frosting: 
  1. Make sure you really whip the butter until it is pale in color and fluffy, before adding the rest of the ingredients in. This will give you the best, and most fluffy, frosting.
  2. Make sure your butter is the right temperature, not too cold and not too soft. Usually 30 minutes out of the fridge is just right.
  3. Make sure your cream cheese is cold. This will help the frosting to have the right consistency.
  4. Make sure your melted white chocolate is cooled slightly before adding it to the butter/cream cheese. It should be fully liquid still, but about room temperature.
  5. If your frosting gets too warm while assembling the cake, chill I in the fridge for 10-20 minutes. Whip again with an electric mixer to get it back to the right consistency. This is a soft frosting because of the cream cheese so you may need to chill and rewhip a few times while putting the cake together.
Make sure all your wet ingredients are room temperature. You'll have the best textured cake when the ingredients are room temperature instead of cold. Cold wet ingredients can make any kind of cake turn out "gummy".
Course: Dessert
Keyword: cake, Christmas, gingerbread, gingerbread cake
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