Mimi's Organic Eats » Recipes » Christmas » Gingerbread Snack Cake

Gingerbread Snack Cake

Winter • Cakes & Cupcakes • No Seed Oils • High Altitude • Christmas | Published December 9, 2024 by Mimi Council

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This Gingerbread Snack Cake is a must bake this holiday season! It’s one layer of perfectly spiced, moist, and fluffy gingerbread cake with the addition of stenciled holiday cheer on top! I serve this with fresh made Organic Whipped Cream for a truly special holiday cake that’s incredibly easy to make! 

If you’re looking for more gingerbread recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Frosted Gingerbread Banana Bread, Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars, or my classic Frosted Gingerbread Cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Tools Needed
Step by Step Instructions
Baker’s Tips
FAQ’s
Craving More?

This is my fifth and final recipe in my series, Turning Leftover Pumpkin Into Christmas Desserts! I love reducing food waste, and this was a fun challenge this holiday season to use up leftover pumpkin from Thanksgiving! Be sure to check out the other four recipes in this series, Eggless Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies, Christmas Tree Cupcakes and Cranberry Pumpkin Dog Cookies.

This easy gingerbread cake is incredibly festive with minimal effort! While it looks beautiful, this Gingerbread Snack Cake is so easy to make! I’m just using a simple stencil on top to give these cake slices festive vibes. If you know me, then you know I’m not big on decorating and especially not spending a ton of time on it. So, you can achieve this beautiful holiday cake with zero decorating skills — my kinda cake!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Holiday Flavors: This is a maple gingerbread cake, I use maple syrup along with dark brown sugar, molasses, and the classic gingerbread spices. That creates a dark, rich, and perfectly spiced cake that goes great with a hot chocolate, hot toddy, or a cup of coffee or tea.

Easy AF: I’m serious when I say this cake is easy AF! This maple gingerbread cake mixes up easily in your stand mixer. Dump it into a 8-inch baking pan, bake, and then sift powdered sugar on top of each piece with a holiday stencil — that’s it!

Festive and Fun: This easy gingerbread cake is so festive and fun to make. It doesn’t take anymore time than other cakes, it may even take less because there’s no frosting to make! The stencils make this cake incredibly festive but insanely easy!

Moist and Fluffy: This maple gingerbread cake is incredibly moist thanks to the dark brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, and pumpkin. All of these ingredients help keep this cake moist and fluffy!

Whipped Cream: Instead of frosting, I serve this cake with my homemade Organic Whipped Cream. Because the stencils are done on top of the cake, I didn’t add any frosting. But, this Gingerbread Snack Cake is the perfect pairing for fresh made Organic Whipped Cream!

Ingredients

Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter in this cake.
Dark Brown Sugar: I use my Homemade Dark Brown Sugar in this recipe, but store bought also works. While light brown sugar will work in this recipe, it won’t provide the same rich flavor that dark brown sugar will (which is ideal for gingerbread!). So, be sure to use dark brown. If you don’t have dark brown, you can easily make your own with my Homemade Dark Brown Sugar recipe.
Maple Syrup: I use organic maple syrup in the cake.
Molasses: You’ll need organic blackstrap molasses for this cake, it’s what gives gingerbread it’s signature dark color and rich flavor.
Eggs: I use organic large eggs.
Milk: I use organic whole milk.
Pumpkin: Farmer’s Market Organic Pumpkin is what I use in this cake. The pumpkin makes this cake moist and fluffy. If you don’t have pumpkin, you can replace it with sour cream or even yogurt.
All Purpose Flour: I use Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour, it is my absolute favorite!
Baking Powder: You’ll need baking powder for this recipe, because it’s cake. Read my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on choosing the right leavening agent.
Salt: Make sure to use a fine sea salt.
Spices: I use organic cinnamon, ginger, and cloves which is my holy trio for gingerbread. If you have my Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix made, you can use that instead of all three spices. Just use 3 teaspoons of the gingerbread spice mix in place of all three spices.
Powdered Sugar: You’ll need organic powdered sugar to sift on top of the cake (with the stencils!).
Heavy Whipping Cream: If you want to make my homemade Organic Whipped Cream to serve this with, you’ll need organic heavy whipping cream.
Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar in the whipped cream.
Vanilla Extract: I use Simply Organic Vanilla Extract for the whipped cream.

Tools Needed

Scale: You’ll need a digital food scale for the best results!
Stand Mixer: I use my stand mixer to mix up the cake batter, but a hand mixer will also work if you prefer.
8-inch Baking Pan: I use an 8×8-inch baking pan. But, you can also use a 9×9-inch baking pan if that’s all you have, the cake will just be a bit shorter if you do this.
Parchment Paper: I use my favorite Kana nontoxic parchment paper so the cake is easily removed from the pan.
Stencils: I was gifted the stencils I used last Christmas from my friends at C&H Sugar. But, I’ve linked similar ones here.

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woman sharing cookies with pug in kitchen

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper.

Step 2

To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. Mix on low until combined and there are no butter chunks.

Add the eggs, milk, and pumpkin puree and mix to combine.

Last, add in the flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined into a smooth cake batter. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure it’s evenly mixed.

Step 3

Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and spread it out evenly.

Step 4

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Make sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe if you're baking at high altitude). If your cake seems a little domed when it comes out of the oven, then using a spatula, press it down a little bit in the middle to flatten it. If you do this when the cake is hot it will press down easily and you can get a perfectly flat cake without trimming, which really helps with the stencils. Allow the cake to cool completely in the baking pan.

Step 5

Remove the cake from the pan and cut into 9 slices (3×3).

Step 6

Place a stencil over the top of each piece and sift powdered sugar on top. It’s best to do each piece individually.

Step 7

Serve with homemade whipped cream!

Baker’s Tips

Make sure your butter is soft. I like to leave butter out on the counter the day before so it softens naturally.
While you can use light brown sugar in place of dark, it won’t have the same flavor. Dark brown sugar is what gives gingerbread its signature dark color and rich flavor. So, I really recommend using dark brown sugar! If you don’t have dark brown sugar, you can easily make it home with my simple recipe for Homemade Dark Brown Sugar.
It really helps to have eggs and milk at room temperature for a really smooth cake batter. Take them out of the fridge 2 hours before baking the cake.
If your cake seems a little domed when it comes out of the oven, immediately take a spatula and press down the middle. Do this just a little bit to flatten the cake, this way the stencils will sit flat when you stencil the powdered sugar.
The stencils are optional, you can skip this part if you want and just sift some powdered sugar over the top of the cake.
Be sure to store extra cake in an airtight container. And, if you have extra whipped cream, store in an airtight container in the fridge.

FAQ’s

Can I use unsalted butter?

Yes, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe.

Do I need to stencil this cake?

No, this part is totally optional. You don’t need to do the stencil part and can skip it and just sift some powdered sugar over the top instead! 

Can I frost this cake?

Yes, if you prefer to skip the stencils and frost this cake then try my Vanilla Bean Buttercream recipe as it will be the perfect frosting to top this cake with!

How should I store this?

Store the cake in an airtight container. And, if you have extra whipped cream, store in an airtight container in the fridge.