Gingerbread Pound Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

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 Pumpkin Cake and Vegan Bourbon Apple Skillet cake with Chai Drizzle!

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.

what makes gingerbread pound cake so rich and buttery?

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.

Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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.

molasses adds robust flavors to this gingerbread pound cake that are smoky...but also sweet

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!

GINGERBREAD POUND CAKE VS. GINGERBREAD BUNDT CAKE

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.

a few recipe tips and tricks for this gingerbread pound cake

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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Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

By: Britney

Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is your new favorite holiday treat. Delicious, easy to make, and full of holiday cheer!

Serving: 16 servings

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Calories: 320kcal

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• ▢ 2 tsp ground ginger
• ▢ 1 tbsp cinnamon
• ▢ 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ▢ ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ▢ 1 tsp allspice
• ▢ ½ tsp baking soda
• ▢ 2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ 2 cups dark brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 cups salted butter, melted
• ▢ 6 eggs yolks
• ▢ ¾ cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ cup + 1 tbsp molasses
• ▢ 1 orange, zest

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 4 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 4 oz packages cream cheese
• ▢ 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1-2 tbsps milk
• ▢ Pinch of salt

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Whisk together all-purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine dark brown sugar, sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, orange zest, and molasses. Mix until all ingredients are combined, about 1 minute. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix for about 30 seconds, until there are no patches of flour. Scrape down the edge of the bowl as needed.
• Brush a cake pan with oil/lard and dust with flour, tapping off any excess flour. Add batter to cake pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
• While cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting by adding cream cheese to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat cream cheese for about 30 seconds, until smooth. Add powdered sugar, pinch of salt, vanilla extract and 1-2 tbsps milk.
• Allow cake to cool for 5-10 minutes and then flip over onto a cooling rack. Allow cake to cool completely before icing.
• Add icing to cake! Garnish with caramel or any topping of your choice!

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

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