Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is your new favorite holiday treat. Delicious, easy to make, and full of holiday cheer!
While you're here, check out Spiced Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pumpkin Cake and Vegan Bourbon Apple Skillet cake with Chai Drizzle!
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. I always looked forward to going to her house because everything she made was absolutely delicious. In fact, every time I bake a cake I think of her. This 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 amounts to bring you this decadent treat. When paired with cream cheese frosting, the richness of the cream cheese pairs so well with the cake. It mellows out the spices and really 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?". I went down a deep dive of reading about the origin of pound cake. Apparently, pound cake is called as 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. Add too much nutmeg or cloves and it's 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 the 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. Combine your wet ingredients, then combine your dry ingredients and mix the two. Bake for an hour to an hour and ten minutes and you've got a lovely cake that'll make your tastebuds as happy as can be!
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 pan with flour and tap off any excess flour. 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 wondered what in the world that actually meant. Logistically speaking, when you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, to prevent over mixing, stop mixing when all of the flour is incorporated. For recipes like this, that's around 30 seconds.
Need more festive recipes? Try this Christmas Candy Bark and this Gluten Free Coconut Cake!
I also make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl prior to mixing in the dry ingredients to make sure that all of the wet ingredients are mixed together nicely. This step is so easy to forget but is so crucial to making sure all of the ingredients are combined. Making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl really ensures that everything has come together properly and prevents the batter from being chunky.
Gingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Course: DessertsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy16
servings15
minutes1
hour320
kcalGingerbread Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is your new favorite holiday treat. Delicious, easy to make, and full of holiday cheer!
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
¾ cup vegetable oil
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!
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Marta says
I'm always looking for ideas like this. A recipe that serves as decoration, while it waits to be served. This one will be a table centerpiece this holiday season for sure!
Britney Chamberlain says
Aren't those the best? Pretty and delicious?!
Robin says
I could have eaten this entire cake myself, that's how good it was. Cream cheese frosting weakens me everytime!
Britney Chamberlain says
LOL! I'm the same way, thanks for giving this recipe a try! So happy that you enjoyed it!
Patricia Andrade says
This cake is amazing! I couldn't stop eating it...it's that good! I'm definitely making it again, and again! Yum!
Britney Chamberlain says
Music to my ears! Thank you!
Taneisha says
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!!
Britney Chamberlain says
LOL The more cake the merrier! I'm so excited about you making TWO cakes for christmas!
Crystal says
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!
Britney Chamberlain says
Thank you, Crystal! The texture of this pound cake is my favorite part about it, it's so soft and dense. I love it!
Capri says
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!
Britney Chamberlain says
Thanks Capri! I hope that your family enjoys the cake as well!
Chenée Lewis says
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!
Britney Chamberlain says
Thanks Chenee! Yes, the flavor is so rich and decadent with the cream cheese frosting. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
Jazz says
I didn't decorate my pound cake as pretty as yours but it tasted delicious! Gone in just a couple days!
Britney Chamberlain says
The decoration is always optional! I'm so happy that you enjoyed it!
Titi Shodiya says
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!
Britney Chamberlain says
Thank you so much Titi! It's music to my ears whenever I see that the cake gets eaten up so quickly! lol
Bonnie says
Mine looked way less pretty but tasted delicious! It was a hit with everyone at dinner!
Britney Chamberlain says
Thank you, I'm so happy that everyone enjoyed it at dinner!