Vintage Gingerbread Cake
This vintage Gingerbread cake recipe is deliciously light and easy to make. It’s perfect as a Fall dessert or a great holiday cake. Mouthwatering hints of cinnamon, ginger and molasses in a sweet and moist cake.
For many years, I’ve made this cake on the first crisp day of Fall. The smell throughout the house is heavenly and it definitely gets you in the mood for cooler weather!
The warm spices of Fall all in this one easy recipe! Serve up a little slice of this after your fried catfish or meatloaf dinner or have a little slice with your coffee at breakfast!
This is a vintage gingerbread cake recipe from my Grandmother.
I think you’ll find it quite tasty–not too sweet and not too much molasses.
Ingredients
The easiest way to make this gingerbread cake is to just mix it by hand using a big wooden spoon or a heavy duty spatula; no hand mixer or electric stand mixer is necessary, but it does help this recipe go a little quicker.
The ingredients are clean and simple: all-purpose flour (or cake flour), salt, butter, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, sugar, molasses and buttermilk.
Do NOT substitute pure cane molasses with blackstrap molasses – the flavors and texture are not the same. Blackstrap is thicker and more bitter. Use a high-quality pur sugarcane molasses like Grandma’s™ brand molasses.
How to make classic gingerbread cake
This is an overview; see the recipe card below for ingredient measurements and instructions.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs and butter
- In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and baking soda; add molasses and buttermilk to the dry mixture; combine well
- Add in sugar, egg, butter mixture; combine well, pour batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake
- For best results, allow the cake to cool at room temperature before removing from the Bundt pan.
Recipe Tips
- After you make the batter, spray the Bundt pan with oil and lightly coat pan with granulated sugar – not flour. The cake comes out easily and doesn’t have any “flour pockets” on top
- For the cake batter -if you don’t have cake flour, just use all-purpose flour and sift it twice
Storage
If you don’t have a covered cake plate, put some plastic wrap over the cake and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you want to heat a piece of this delicious cake, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.
You can sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top of the gingerbread bundt cake or add an icing or glaze.
You’ll love this old fashioned Gingerbread cake recipe and your house will smell heavenly while it’s baking! You can make this recipe as a gingerbread sheet cake, Bundt cake, mini muffins or mini-Bundt cakes…it’s your call!
Related recipes
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- Italian Cream Cake
- Homemade Marshmallows
- Southern Pecan Pie
- No Bake Coconut Cream Pie
- Homemade Whipping Cream
- Original Texas Sheet Cake
- Eggnog Pound Cake
- Cinderella Pumpkin Cake
Vintage Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Equipment
- Bundt pan
- Cooling rack
- Hand or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups flour , sifted; all purpose or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt , table
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional) ,to sprinkle on top of cake (optional)
- ½ cup unsalted butter ,room temperature
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk ,2% or whole
- 1 cup molasses
- spray oil , for pan
- granulated white sugar , for pan
Instructions
Prep
- Remove butter from fridge and allow to come to room temperature½ cup unsalted butter
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Sift flour; set aside
Assemble Ingredients
- In a large bowl, add sifted flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger; stir and set aside2¾ cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- In another large bowl, use hand or stand mixer and combine room temperature butter, sugar and eggs; combine well½ cup unsalted butter, 2 whole eggs, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Add buttermilk and molasses to sugar mixture;stir1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup molasses
- Add wet mixture to dry ingredients; combine well
- Lightly spray bundt pan with oil then dust pan with a little sugar; shake off excessspray oil, granulated white sugar
- Pour batter into prepared pan
- Bake 50 – 55 minutes, or until the center of the cake comes out clean on a toothpick
- Allow cake to rest for 5 minutes
Remove Cake from Bundt Pan
- Use a knife and gently loosen cake from pan, including the center tube
- Place cooling rack over cake; hold rack and pan together and flip
- Remove bundt pan ; allow cake to cool about 5 minutes
- Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional) and serve2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional)
Notes
- Even if you’re pan is non-stick, spray it lightly with oil.
- Believe it or not, a light sprinkle of sugar – NOT FLOUR – helps the gingerbread cake release from the pan. It’s amazing how easily the cake comes out when you use sugar and not flour. (Use plain granulated sugar; not confectioner’s or powdered sugar.)
- Oil and sugar the pan right before you pour in the batter. DO NOT oil and sugar the pan in advance, as the ingredients slide down to the bottom of the pan.
Quick question: This is called gingerbread bundt cake BUT there’s no ginger in it. Can I add a teaspoon of ginger (powder or even fresh ground ginger)?
Would love to know what you think.
I know!!! It’s my Grandmother’s recipe and there’s no ginger in it🤷♀️
You could add a teaspoon of dried ginger I suppose…..I wouldn’t use fresh ginger, though…. it’s too strong.