January 11, 2021

If you are slowly moving away from the holiday desserts but still want to hold on to those flavors, may I introduce to you the gingerbread snacking cake.

Gingerbread Snacking Cake

Think of this cake as a warm winter spice cake. Everything you love about a gingerbread cookie wrapped into a fluffy piece of cake. Oh, did I mention it is topped with cream cheese frosting?

So what kind of spices are we talking about? The cake is filled with ginger of course, and then cinnamon and cloves. While the spices are necessary to get the rich flavor, I really think the true star of the cake is the molasses. The molasses gives the cake a bittersweet flavor. It balances out the sweetness but melds well with the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

Snacking Cake

So, exactly is a snacking cake? A snacking cake is just a very causal cake. It doesn’t have to be for an occasion and can easily be munched on, or snacked on rather, any time of the day. They are also pretty simple to make and can usually be put together fairly quickly.

This gingerbread snacking cake kind of bends the rules when it comes to snacking cakes. Most snacking cakes are made in one bowl, but this is a multiple bowl cake. However, it’s easy enough to make and still qualifies under my rules.

The cake is a typical add dry to wet ingredients after you cream the butter sort of thing. So, yeah a little more work than your one-bowl cake, but worth the effort.

I adapted the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The recipe is very similar but I added in a lot of lemon juice and lemon zest to up the brightness of the cake. I also added some lemon zest into the cream cheese frosting to complement the flavors.

Also, make sure everything is at room temperature! Especially when it comes to the frosting! I definitely got a little impatient and ended up with some lumpy frosting. It still tastes delicious, but it has some texture to it!

Check out the recipe below and get snacking away!

Gingerbread Snacking Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of one lemon

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz full-fat block of cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
1 -2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a square baking dish with grease and parchment. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the hot water with the molasses. Stir the two together until they are fully combined.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, making sure to scrape down the sides as needed. Once the butter and brown sugar are combined, add the egg and vanilla.
With the wet ingredients mixed, add in the dry mixture and molasses mixture, alternating back and forth. Start with the dry mixture and make sure to end with it as well. Add in the flour mixture slowly so it won't go all over the place. Try not to over mix the batter, it will be thick and a little lumpy but that is okay.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake the cake for about 35-45 minutes. The cake will be a deep color when baked. Use a toothpick to see if it is done. If it comes out clean, let it cool on a wire rack before frosting.
While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a medium-sized bowl or in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. The mixture should be smooth when ready. Then, add in the confectioner's sugar, (a little at a time otherwise it will be messy!) milk, and vanilla. Continue to mix the mixture until it looks smooth. If you think the frosting is a bit too sweet, add in a pinch of salt to balance out the flavors.
The cake should be eaten fresh but should last about 3-5 in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator.