Recipe courtesy of A Cake Named Desire

With Christmas comes baked goods and with just a week away, you’re probably gathering ingredients for cookies galore. But hear me out, what about instead of gingerbread cookies, you have a gingerbread cake? That’s right! A cake, not cookies! Last year, I made a gingerbread cake for dessert after Christmas dinner and it was so good and was such a crowd pleaser. It’s a twist on the classic Christmas treat! And how cute is the little gingerbread village cake topper?

Gingerbread Cake

Yield: Two 9-inch round cake pans

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1¼ cups milk

Grease and lightly flour the two nine-inch cake pans. In a medium bowl, mix together the gluten-free flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda together and lightly whisk. Set this dry mixture aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the sugar and beat this mixture is light and fluffy. Next, add the molasses, then the eggs. Beat well. Lastly, add the ginger.

Alternate between adding the flour and the mix to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Be careful not to over mix the cake batter, but try to keep the lumps to a minimum.

Evenly distribute the batter into the cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a few crumbs.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cakes cool, you can make the buttercream.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cassia oil (cinnamon extract may also work)

Beat the butter until completely smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar slowly, one cup at a time. Add the ground cinnamon and oil. (Baker’s note: If you cannot find cassia oil or extract, you can use ground cinnamon. But the buttercream will be darker in color and less snowy white like shown in the picture.) Frost the cake as desired.

Enjoy!
Wishing you and yours
a very merry and bright holiday season!
-Alex of Chapter Fifteen Blog