Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is going to be your new favorite holiday treat. It’s delicious, easy to make, and full of holiday cheer to compliment the festive spirit of the month!
While you're here, check out Spiced Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake and Blueberry Pound Cake!
This Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a take on one of my favorite desserts growing up. My Aunt Hazel made the BEST pound cake ever and this recipe is inspired by her delicious creation.
I always looked forward to going to her house because everything she made was delicious. Every time I bake a cake I think of her. This gingerbread cake was no different.
This gingerbread pound cake is rich and buttery and full of deliciousness. The crumb of the cake is soft but dense and is spiced with ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. These spices come together in just the perfect amount to bring you this decadent treat.
When paired with cream cheese frosting, the richness of the cream pairs so well with the cake. It mellows out the spices and makes eating this treat such a delightful experience.
In researching this recipe, I had to ask myself, "What constitutes a pound cake?" Then I went down a deep dive reading about the origin of pound cake. Pound cake is called such because it contains a pound of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.
In the spirit of being authentic, I, of course, wrote my recipe around this. It wasn't too difficult. A lot of the work was done for me.
The difficult part in writing this recipe came into play when I wanted to adjust the correct amount of spices for this pound cake. If you add too much nutmeg or cloves, it will get too spicy. Add too little ginger and cinnamon and it doesn't taste like gingerbread.
It's a delicate balance. After a few tries, I got the amounts just right! What I realized is that the majority of the gingerbread flavor (in my opinion) comes from molasses and cloves as opposed to cinnamon and ginger.
The molasses adds robust flavors to the gingerbread pound cake that are smoky, a bit bitter, but also sweet. This paired with the spices and a pound of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour - it's insanity. In a good way of course.
Oh! And as far as difficulty, this cake is super easy. All you have to do is combine your wet ingredients with your dry ingredients in a large bowl, and merge them in the electric mixer at medium speed for your cake flour.
Bake for an hour to an hour and ten minutes in the preheated oven, take the pound cake out after a toothpick is inserted into the center and it comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely for a few minutes at room temperature. And you've got a light and fluffy cake that'll make your tastebuds as happy as can be!
Pound cakes or bundt cakes? Which is better? Cakes come in many shapes, sizes, and baking methods. Two familiar cake names you might have heard are bundt cakes and pound cakes. You might be wondering what the difference is between these two.
Simply, Bundt cakes are cakes that have a specific shape while Pound cakes are made with one pound of each chief ingredient. You can make a Pound cake in the form of a Bundt and you can make a Bundt cake using one pound of the ingredients.
As I mentioned in my Lemon Cream Cake with Saffron Glaze recipe, the BEST way to get the cake out of the cake pan/bundt pan is to brush the pan with melted lard. Then dust the loaf pan with flour and tap off any excess.
I have had success with this method every single time I bake cakes. I even did a small experiment as to which oils work best and lard worked better than butter, spray oil, and various cooking oils such as olive oil and vegetable oil, etc.
Another reminder I'd like to convey is to not over mix your batter! When flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form. Gluten continues to develop as you begin to mix your batter so it's important not to over mix your batter so that your cake won't be stiff.
When I first started baking and would hear other bakers say "don't over mix your batter", I often wondered what in the world that meant. Logistically speaking, when you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, to prevent overmixing, you have to stop when all of the flour is incorporated. For recipes like this, that will take around 30 seconds.
Need more festive recipes? Try this Christmas Candy Bark and this Gluten-Free Coconut Cake!
I also scrape the sides of the bowl before mixing in the dry ingredients to make sure that all of the wet ingredients are combined nicely. This step is so easy to forget but is so crucial to making sure all of the ingredients are blended. Making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl ensures that everything has come together properly and prevents the batter from being chunky.
If you want to make this Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, comment below if you found this helpful!
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I made this cake as indicated and the oil addition seems in error. As you pointed out, 2 cups of butter is one pound and the 3/4 cup of oil shifts the ratio of fat ingredients too far. The cake I made turned out far more dense than desired, especially for a pound cake. As written, I wouldn't make this again.
Sorry to hear that as this recipe is a favorite in my home! Best of luck to you!
I am baking this cake today for my dads 97th birthday so I’m sure it will fabulous. I note in your recipe you note 3/4 cup oil to be added but there is no mention of the oil when you list the wet ingredients to be combined. Nevertheless I assumed the addition of the oil was to be added with the remainder of the sugar and egg and molasses and sour cream etc. You may want to revise your recipe. Looking forward to trying the cake when it is out of the oven. Cheers
Mine looked way less pretty but tasted delicious! It was a hit with everyone at dinner!
Thank you, I'm so happy that everyone enjoyed it at dinner!
This recipe is AMAZING. The spicing is absolutely perfect! Half of the cake was gone in the first hour (FYI: It is just me and my husband here lol!) This will be my secret weapon for all holiday parties going forward. I can’t say enough good things about this recipe. DELICIOUS!
Thank you so much Titi! It's music to my ears whenever I see that the cake gets eaten up so quickly! lol
I didn't decorate my pound cake as pretty as yours but it tasted delicious! Gone in just a couple days!
The decoration is always optional! I'm so happy that you enjoyed it!
SO good! This cake was exactly what have been looking for in a gingerbread cake. I love the rich flavor that the molasses brings to it!
Thanks Chenee! Yes, the flavor is so rich and decadent with the cream cheese frosting. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
I love the flavor of this gingerbread cake and the cream cheese frosting is just the best! I cannot wait to make this again for Christmas dinner with my family!
Thanks Capri! I hope that your family enjoys the cake as well!
This is a such a beautiful dessert! The texture of the pound cake and the balance of spices was just perfect! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you, Crystal! The texture of this pound cake is my favorite part about it, it's so soft and dense. I love it!
This cake was so good I did not want to share! I'll be making again for Christmas but this time one for myself and another for my family! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
LOL The more cake the merrier! I'm so excited about you making TWO cakes for christmas!
This cake is amazing! I couldn't stop eating it...it's that good! I'm definitely making it again, and again! Yum!
Music to my ears! Thank you!