Gingerbread Cake
- dessert
- Christmas
- dark brown sugar
Categories:
Gingerbread cake with brown butter cream cheese frosting and toasted vanilla meringue made by blogger Baran Bakery.

Gingerbread Cake
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup Oil 1/2 cup Oil
- C&H® Dark Brown Sugar 1 cup 1 cup C&H® Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Molasses 1/4 cup Molasses
- 2 Large eggs 2 Large eggs
- 2 cups All-purpose flour 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. Baking powder 2 tsp. Baking powder
- 1 tbsp. Cinnamon 1 tbsp. Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tbsp. Ginger 1 1/2 tbsp. Ginger
- 1/2 tsp. Salt 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1 cup Milk 1 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Sour cream 1/2 cup Sour cream
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter 1/2 cup Unsalted butter
- 8 oz. Cream cheese 8 oz. Cream cheese
- C&H® Confectioners Sugar 4 cups 4 cups C&H® Confectioners Sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. Salt 1/4 tsp. Salt
Vanilla Meringue
- 3 Egg whites 3 Egg whites
- C&H® Granulated Sugar 3/4 cup 3/4 cup C&H® Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. Salt 1/4 tsp. Salt
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour three 6" pans.
Combine flour, salt, baking powder and spices in a bowl and set aside.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine butter, and C&H® Dark Brown Sugar on medium speed.
Add in molasses and oil & beat for 1-2 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each (make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl between each).
Mix together milk & sour cream.
Alternate adding wet and dry ingredients into batter, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, beating just until flour is fully incorporated.
Distribute evenly between cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. *
Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
*This batter can make 5 small layers or 2 1/2 thicker layers that can be sliced in half, totaling to 5 layers.
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk continuously until butter begins to brown, there will be dark speckles throughout & the butter will begin to smell nutty.
Remove from heat and pour into a heat resistant bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature, until consistency is 'soft' not 'melted'.
Beat butter and cream cheese until pale and fluffy.
Add in C&H® Confectioners Sugar and beat for 5-10 minutes until fully dissolved and fluffy.
Mix in vanilla extract and salt; beat for another few minutes.
Distribute evenly between each cake layer; there should be enough for a naked/semi-naked cake.
Vanilla Meringue
Place egg whites and C&H® Granulated Sugar in the bowl of stand mixer.
Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan.
Lower to simmer & and place stand mixer bowl over the saucepan, creating a double boiler.
Stir occasionally for 5-7 minutes, until sugar is fully dissolved, you don't want to feel any grains of sugar when you touch the egg whites.
Remove bowl from heat.
Using the whisk attachment, on medium-high speed, beat until soft peaks form.
Add in vanilla and salt and continue to beat until stiff peaks.
Cover cake with meringue and use a spoon or small spatula to make swirls.
Use a kitchen blow torch to toast meringue.
Decorate with gingerbread cookies.
Chef's Tip
- Double amount of frosting if you want to frost and decorate the whole cake with the brown butter icing.
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Store refrigerated but best served at room temperature.
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Cover sliced parts with plastic wrap to prevent drying out.
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This recipe is best made in 6″ cake pans.