Gingerbread Snack Cake

Gingerbread Snack Cake – Warm and spicy gingerbread cake topped with a fluffy Cream Cheese Buttercream.

This Gingerbread Snack Cake is the perfect holiday treat for a small get together. It is super quick and easy to make. Plus, you can make this cake gluten-free or not! I made it with gluten-free flour and the texture and taste was perfect! 

What you will need

All-Purpose Flour (or GF All-Purpose Flour Blend) – I used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-1 all-purpose flour. I also like the Robin Hood blend.

Granulated Sugar

Baking Soda

Salt

Ginger

Cinnamon

All Spice

Canola or Vegetable Oil

Molasses

2 Eggs

Buttermilk – This adds a ton of moisture to this cake and gives it a light and fluffy texture. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own! This recipe calls for half a cup of buttermilk.  Add 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1/2 cup of regular milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Sour Cream – Also adds moisture!

Vanilla Extract

Unsalted Butter

Cream Cheese – Be sure to use regular and not light cream cheese.

Powdered Sugar

Heavy Cream – Using 33% heavy whipping cream is key for a buttercream that whips up light and fluffy.

How to make Gingerbread Snack Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and line an 8×8 square cake pan. Leave some parchment hanging over the edge of the pan so it is easy to lift the cake out later!

In a medium sized bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and all spice. Set aside. 

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the oil, eggs, molasses, sour cream and vanilla. It might look a little curdled, that’s ok! Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Having all of your wet ingredients – eggs, buttermilk, sour cream – at room temperature will help everything mix together better!

With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. 

Pour the batter into the lined square cake pan. 

Bake for about 40  minutes. I like baking at a lower temperature because it helps the cake rise evenly and not dome too much. Test the cake by using a toothpick or cake tester. It should come out with just a few crumbs. 

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20-30 minutes. After that, you can carefully lift the cake out of the pan using the flaps of parchment on either side.

For the Cream Cheese Buttercream

Using a handheld or stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.

It’s important to use slightly chilled butter and chilled cream cheese for this buttercream to avoid it becoming too soft and gloopy. If you are planning on piping with this buttercream, then you will want a buttercream that holds it’s shape!

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla and heavy cream. Then, whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Once the cake is fully cooled, decorate however you like with the Cream Cheese Buttercream! I divided my buttercream into three bowls and coloured two of those bowls with red and green gel colours. I like using the Wilton Colour Right System as well as Americolor gels. For the piping, I used Wilton tips 2D, 4B and 199.

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out some of my other holiday recipes!

White Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

Bubbly Champagne Cupcakes – perfect for New Year’s Eve!

Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches

Gingerbread Snack Cake

Recipe by Kelsey LacombeCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Bake time

40

minutes

Warm and spicy gingerbread cake topped with a light and fluffy cream cheese buttercream.

Ingredients

• For the Gingerbread Cake

• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (or GF all-purpose blend)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon ginger

• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon all spice

• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

• 3/4 cup molasses

• 2 eggs, room temp

• 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp

• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temp

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• For the Cream Cheese Buttercream

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly chilled

• 1/4 cup cream cheese, chilled

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• For the Gingerbread Cake
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and line an 8×8 square cake pan. Leave some parchment hanging over the edge of the pan so it is easy to lift the cake out later!
• In a medium sized bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and all spice. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the oil, eggs, molasses, sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the lined square cake pan.
• Bake for about 40 minutes. I like baking at a lower temperature because it helps the cake rise evenly and not dome too much. Test the cake by using a toothpick or cake tester. It should come out with just a few crumbs.
• Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20-30 minutes. After that, you can carefully lift the cake out of the pan using the flaps of parchment on either side.
• For the Cream Cheese Buttercream
• Using a handheld or stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla and heavy cream. Then, whip on high speed for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Once the cake is fully cooled, decorate however you like with the buttercream. See above in the post for what I did!

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