Gingerbread

5 from 3 votes

Rich, moist, with plenty of warm spice, this delicious from-scratch gingerbread recipe will become a Christmas tradition for your family.

Prep Time5

Cook Time40

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Gingerbread Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 536kcal

Ingredients

Cake

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 cup unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Whipped Topping

1½ cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper, or spray with baking spray, and set aside.
In a small bowl combine the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Stir to make a spice blend. Remove 1 teaspoon of the mixture of ground spices and set aside to use as a garnish sprinkle for the cake pieces when serving.
In a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and the spice blend (not the 1 teaspoon reserved). Whisk together to completely incorporate all the spices evenly into the flour. Set dry ingredients aside.
In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and mix for another 30 seconds until the egg is completely incorporated.
Add the molasses and vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture and mix to combine well.
Slowly add the flour mixture to butter and combine, on low speed, just until all the flour has been evenly incorporated.
While your electric mixer is on low, slowly pour the boiling water into the batter. Mix just until all the water is incorporated. Do not overmix. You can use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure that all the batter is evenly mixed.
Carefully pour your batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow your cake to cool completely, on the counter, prior to slicing and garnishing with the whipped cream topping.
While your cake is cooling you can make your whipped cream topping by adding your very cold heavy whipping cream to a large bowl and mixing on low speed, with a handheld mixer, for 1 minute. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whip, on high speed, for an additional 2-3 minutes. You can transfer your whipped cream to a piping bag, or a zip top plastic bag with the corner snipped, and pipe a pretty swirl to the top of each piece of your gingerbread cake.

Notes

Unsulphured molasses is made from ripe sugar cane and has no additives. It is generally the kind you will find at the grocery store and is different from blackstrap molasses.
Molasses is a great ingredient to keep on hand in your pantry! It stays fresh at room temperature for quite a while, can be used in many different recipes (like this one), and you can quickly make brown sugar in a pinch. Just mix 1 teaspoon of molasses into 1 cup of granulated sugar (or 2 teaspoons for dark brown sugar), and you have your own freshly homemade brown sugar!
Boiling or very hot water is critical to this recipe as it helps to evenly incorporate all of the ingredients for a smooth batter and (perhaps most importantly) blooms the spices for the best possible flavor.
You can use a little bit of that 1 teaspoon of the spice blend you reserved to sprinkle lightly on top of the whipped cream and onto the top of your piece of gingerbread cake.

Nutrition