This gingerbread bundt cake is moist, fluffy, and bursting with rich molasses flavor. It’s baked to perfection in an elegant bundt pan, making this cake a beautiful showstopper. Plus, the powdered sugar makes it look it’s part of a winter wonderland! It’s simple to make and mostly uses pantry staples. If you need a good holiday dessert, this gingerbread cake is just the thing to bake this season!
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Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: You’ll need 360g or 3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Gingerbread Spices: Don’t skip any of the spices! You’ll need ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Leaveners: These help the cake to rise. We use both baking powder and baking soda in this recipe.
- Salt: This brings out the other flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: Make sure your butter is softened and not melted or cold. Otherwise, it won’t mix properly in the batter.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Since this recipe focuses on the rich molasses flavor, dark brown sugar is best since it has more molasses than light brown sugar. The deeper the flavor the better.
- Unsulphered Molasses: This is where you get most of that classic gingerbread flavor. Be sure to get unsulphered molasses and not blackstrap.
- Whole Milk: The moisture and fat content in whole milk yields the best texture.
- Greek Yogurt: Like whole milk, the fat content in Greek yogurt yields the best results. It makes the gingerbread cake nice and soft.
- Eggs: You’ll need 3 large room temperature eggs. If you’re in a pinch, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. They should be good to go!
- Vanilla Extract: A staple in baking recipes!
- Spiced Rum: This adds a more complex flavor as well as moisture to the cake.
A Few Tips
- Correctly measure your flour. If you’re not using grams, we urge you to use the spoon and level method. First, fluff your flour with a spoon, then spoon it into the measuring cup. Lastly, level it off with a straight edge, resisting the urge to tap the cup. You can also buy a good quality, inexpensive kitchen scale on Amazon.
- Don’t overbake your gingerbread cake. Doing so could result in a dry cake, so keep a close eye on it as it gets closer to being done.
- Evenly smooth out the batter so your bundt doesn’t end up lopsided. The last thing you want is a beautiful bundt cake that leans over to one side. To prevent this from happening, be sure to use a flexible spatula to evenly spread the batter in the pan.
- Add your topping after the cake has completely cooled. If the cake is still warm, it could immediately soak up all the powdered sugar or melt your glaze into it.
- Be sure to completely coat the inside of your bundt pan. When preparing your bundt, you want to make sure the inside is completely coated with butter and sugar. Any empty spots risks your cake coming out in pieces.
FAQ
Like most recipes, ours calls for unsulphered molasses. Be careful not to get blackstrap molasses as it’s bitter and much more intense in flavor. Here is the one we use for this cake.
Using 1 tbsp of melted butter and a pastry brush, brush the inside of the pan. Make sure to get into every crease, especially if your pan has a detailed design. And don’t forget to brush around the center ring! Once greased, sprinkle a few tbsp of granulated sugar into the pan, and gently tap while turning it. Do this until every inch of the inside is coated with sugar. Once you’ve done that, set it aside until you’re ready to pour in your batter.
While you can use nonstick spray, we recommend using a pastry brush and softened butter. Doing so ensures you get an even coating of butter which helps the cake not to stick.
You can keep it covered with plastic wrap or in air-tight container at room temperature. Store for up to 3 days. Just note that the powdered sugar on top may dissolve into the cake after a day.
– Stand Mixer
– 10 cup bundt pan
– Pastry brush
What Flavors Go Well with This Gingerbread Bundt Cake?
If you want to add a little more pizazz to your gingerbread bundt cake, there are a few flavors you can think about when making a glaze. First, you could go with a classic vanilla glaze to go over the top. Or if you really want to experiment with flavors, orange or lemon is another interesting choice for a glaze. And of course, brown butter and brown sugar would go amazingly with this cake. If you’ve never made brown butter, we urge to give it a try. It’s super easy to make and adds so much flavor!
We have yet to try this cake with any topping besides powdered sugar, but if you try any, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
More Winter Baking Recipes You’ll Love
Are you a fan of holiday cakes? Try this white chocolate cranberry bread!
Don’t forget to leave a STAR REVIEW and comment if you loved this recipe! Tag us on Instagram @fancifuleats so we can see your tasty creations! For more inspiration, follow us on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- 10-cup Bundt Pan
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 360 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter softened
- 150 g (¾ cup) dark brown sugar packed
- 320 g (1 cup) unsulphured molasses NOT blackstrap
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 250 ml (1 cup) whole milk room temperature
- 60 g (¼ cup) plain full-fat Greek yogurt room temperature
- 60 ml (¼ cup) spiced rum
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Use a pastry brush to coat the inside of the pan with 1 tbsp of melted butter. Sprinkle the inside with a few tbsp of granulated sugar and gently tap the pan as you turn it until the inside is completely coated in sugar. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and dark brown sugar on medium-high speed. Beat for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- On the lowest speed, slowly pour in the molasses until fully combined. Scrape the bottom and sides as needed to ensure everything is thoroughly mixed.
- Add the eggs one at a time, fully mixing in each one before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and yogurt until fully combined.
- In three additions, alternate adding the flour mixture, milk, and rum. Start and end with the flour. Mix until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Don't overmix.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
- If the cake does not come out of the bundt right away, gently tap on the pan until the cake comes free.
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