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This American Gingerbread Cake comes from the first American Cookbook! It is light, fluffy, and moist with the perfect amount of spice! Gingerbread in its purest form.
Because of the origins, the mixing method is super strange. I suggest you watch my YouTube video on it. I’ve tried using the creaming method and it doesn’t come out as fluffy. It is worth the extra trouble. I promise.
I relied heavily on Anne Byrn’s adaptation in American Cake for this recipe. She did all the heavy lifting. I just tweaked it. [Side Bar: if you don’t have Anne’s cookbook, you need it. It’s delightful. I’ve read it cover-to-cover.]
Whether you frost this cake with cream cheese buttercream like I did here or you serve it with a red wine poached pear, warm caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream, you can’t go wrong! This American Gingerbread cake will make all your winter blues disappear.
Fans of gingerbread will also love my Caramel Molasses Pound Cake recipe, these chewy gingerbread cookies or these chewy ginger bars! If you want to lean into the season with every meal, then you should start your day with this easy gingerbread oatmeal too!
American Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 1 g Salt
- 6 g Baking soda
- 8 ounces Boiling water
- 250 g Molasses ½ +⅓ cups
- 2 Eggs
- 113 g Butter Room Temperature
- 115 g Sugar
- 250 g All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Allspice
Cream Cheese Frosting, Optional
Instructions
- Dissolve salt and soda in boiling water, set aside.
- Butter an 8 inch square baking dish.
- Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon and allspice.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the molasses and eggs until smooth. Add the butter and sugar and beat until smooth. There might be a few streaks of butter left. This is ok and it is almost impossible to avoid some at this stage.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and water and fold smooth.
- Pour into prepared baking dish.
- Bake 350°F convection if you have it, 20-25 minutes or until middle springs back to the touch. It might still look a bit wet in the largest crack in the center but a cake tester or skewer will come out with clinging crumbs and no wet streaks. If you bake until it looks dry, the cake will be dry.
- Serve with Crème Anglaise, Vanilla Ice Cream or frost with Cream Cheese Buttercream.
Video
Notes
You can make this in a 9×9 inch dish, a quarter sheet tray, or even a 9×11 inch cake pan. Just be aware that it will not be as tall and it will bake closer to 15-20 minutes.
An American recipe in metric?
Ah yes, sorry to disappoint! That is the professional pastry chef in me. You can toggle to the right and switch it to cups and teaspoons, or I can send you a facsimile of the original “receipt” which is written in “teacups” and “drams” 😉 Happy baking ~Lindsey