Vintage Gingerbread Bundt Cake
This vintage Gingerbread Bundt cake recipe is deliciously light and easy to make. It’s perfect for the holiday season or any time of year. Mouthwatering hints of cinnamon, ginger and molasses in a sweet and moist cake.
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!
This old fashioned Gingerbread Bundt Cake recipe is about as easy to make as wrapping a present! Serve a slice as you would a coffee cake–for breakfast, snack or dessert!
I think you’ll find it quite tasty–not too sweet and not too much molasses.
Why you’ll love this Gingerbread cake recipe!
I usually make this gingerbread cake without a frosting. I know it sounds crazy, but the moist cake doesn’t really need a heavy cream cheese or buttercream icing. You can add one if you like, but I usually drizzle a simple powdered sugar or powdered sugar glaze over the top of this delicious dessert.
- All-natural – no boxed cake mixes, no additives, no preservatives just simple ingredients
- Easy – this Fall dessert couldn’t be any easier to make
- When you make this cake, folks will be lurking around the kitchen waiting for it to get done – it smells heavenly! In fact, the hardest part about this gingerbread recipe is waiting for the cake to get done!
- This recipe also makes 24 standard-size gingerbread cupcakes!
What you’ll need
Back in the day, Grandma didn’t have an electric mixer, right? 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.
Be sure to use a high-quality molasses. I use Grandma’s™ brand molasses because it’s unsulfured, pure sugarcane molasses. You don’t have to use a fancy molasses for this fluffy cake, any blackstrap molasses will work.
How to make this classic gingerbread cake
This is a pretty easy recipe and the cake is so moist, you don’t really need a cream cheese frosting; I usually just sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top or make a simple glaze with powdered sugar and water. 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
If you don’t have cake flour, just use all-purpose flour and sift it twice
This is also a delicious holiday cake when served with vanilla ice cream
Can I substitute syrup for molasses?
First, let’s agree that maple syrup and molasses are sweeteners; however, they are different types of sweeteners: syrup is derived from the sap of maple trees and molasses is made from cane sugar.
Syrup might work in an emergency situation, but if you use syrup, add a little brown sugar because brown sugar contains molasses.
A better choice might be to use a little Steen’s Cane Syrup. This dark, oil-like sugarcane syrup hails from Louisiana and is much closer in flavor to molasses than syrup, especially national brand syrups that contains additives, preservatives, flavorants and who knows what else.
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.
I sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top of the gingerbread bundt cake; however, if you want to add an icing or glaze, go for it! Make yourself a little gingerbread treat anytime you want!
You’ll love this old fashioned, vintage Gingerbread Bundt cake recipe and your house will smell heavenly while it’s baking! You can make this recipe as a gingerbread sheet cake, mini muffins or mini-Bundt cakes…it’s your call!
Related recipes
- Rum Glazed Scandinavian Cake
- 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.