This gingerbread cake is soft, light and fluffy with the perfect spice flavor! Simple ingredients are all you need to make a homemade cake from scratch that will certainly wow any guests. Serve with caramel sauce and some whipped cream and you'll have the most decadent Fall treat.

Gingerbread Cake

Experience the cozy and comforting flavors of the season with this indulgent gingerbread cake with caramel sauce! Made with a blend of aromatic spices and rich molasses, this cake is soft, moist, and bursting with flavor.

The homemade caramel sauce adds a deliciously sweet touch that perfectly complements the warm and spicy gingerbread.

Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a truly decadent dessert that will leave your taste buds singing with joy. Perfect for any holiday gathering or special occasion!

Bowls of recipe ingredients including flour, molasses, brown sugar, ground ginger, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, spices and butter.

Cake Ingredients

This recipe requires a few spices, but trust me it's worth it! The flavors are so delicious and not too overpowering. Here's an overview of what's needed. But full ingredient instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

FLOUR - All purpose flour is the base of the recipe here. You could also use cake flour.
SPICES - Spices are what give this cake the incredible ginger flavor. It uses ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves.
SUGARS - To sweeten you'll need some brown sugar and molasses which will give it that rich caramel color and flavor.
BUTTER - Unsalted butter is softened to room temperature and whipped with the sugar to create a light and fluffy cake.
EGGS - Two large eggs.
BAKING SODA - To help the cake rise while baking.

Four images showing steps to make recipe. First is creamed butter and sugar in bowl with handmixer. Second is smooth and creamy wet ingredients in bowl. Third is cake batter poured in to cake pan. Fourth is baked cake cooling on a rack.

How To Make Gingerbread Cake

PREP - Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake dish and set aside.
DRY INGREDIENTS - Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
WET INGREDIENTS - Use a hand mixer to cream the butter with brown sugar. Next, add in molasses and boiling water (yes it needs to be boiling). Let this cool a minute, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
MIX TOGETHER - Pour half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl and combine using the hand mixer. Repeat with the other half of dry ingredients.
BAKE - Pour this into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean with just a bit of crumbs when poked in the center.
COOL - Let the cake cool a few minutes, then invert it onto a rack to cool completely.

To Serve

This cake is so light and fluffy, it doesn't really need anything else to serve it with. But if you want to add some extra flavor, try one of these toppings:

POWDERED SUGAR - Just a light dusting of powdered sugar overtop of the cake slices can give such a pretty presentation.
CARAMEL SAUCE - I made our cake with homemade caramel sauce. The two go perfectly together! It's made easily in a saucepan and can be drizzled on top of a slice just before serving.
WHIPPED CREAM - Add a dollop of whipped cream. Make your own or use a store-bought version.
ICE CREAM - Nothing beats a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a slice of warm cake!

Slices of gingerbread cake lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Recipe Making Tips

GREASE THE PAN - Spraying the cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and then dusting it with flour will make the cake easier to remove.
ROOM TEMPERATURE BUTTER - Let the butter sit at room temperature for a couple of hours to ensure that it is nice and soft. When you beat the butter with the sugar, it creates air pockets that result in that perfect light and fluffy cake texture.
BLEND WET INGREDIENTS WELL - Cream the wet ingredients well with a hand mixer to ensure that all the spices and molasses are mixed evenly.
If the edges of the cake are starting to brown you can cover the top with aluminum foil for the rest of the baking time.

Slices of gingerbread cake stacked on top of eachother.

How To Store and Freeze

Room temperature – This cake can be stored in a cake box or on a plate covered in plastic wrap to keep it moist and fresh. It will keep on the counter up to 3-4 days without caramel sauce on top.
To refrigerate – You can store this in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap for up to 4 days.
To freeze – Unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 6 months. To avoid freezer burn, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap removing as much air as possible. Trapped air is what causes the freezer burn. I recommend storing the wrapped cake in a large plastic freezer bag for extra protection.

Caramel Sauce

I created a simple caramel sauce to drizzle on top of cake slices. It's easy to make and can be whipped up pretty fast in a pot on the stove. Here's how to make it:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar and salt. Stir slowly until the sugar begins to dissolve.
Now stir in the whipping cream. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

This caramel sauce can be poured overtop of slices of the cake just before you serve it. I don't recommend pouring over the entire cake as it will create soggy leftovers. It's better to drizzle over one cake slice at a time.

A slice of gingerbread cake drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream.

More Dessert Recipes

Gingerbread Cake

Made with a blend of aromatic spices and rich molasses, this cake is soft, moist, and bursting with flavor. The homemade caramel sauce adds a deliciously sweet touch that perfectly complements the warm and spicy gingerbread.

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Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup unsalted butter - softened
¾ cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
1 cup molasses - fancy or cooking, not backstrap
1 cup boiling water
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel Sauce Topping:

¾ cup light brown sugar
⅔ cup whipping cream
⅓ cup unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat 350℉. Grease a 9x13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter. Sprinkle in some all purpose flour and coat all the sides. Dump out excess flour.
Mix together all purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer. Add in the brown sugar and mix again.
Add the molasses and mix again, followed by hot water. Let the mixture cool a minute (so you don’t cook the eggs in the next step). You can check how hot it is just by dipping your finger.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract
Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in.
Repeat with the last half.
Pour into the cake pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Invert the cake onto a rack to cool. Once cooled, slice into square servings.
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and salt until dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil, whisk in the whipping cream gently until mixed through. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
Drizzle a bit of caramel sauce overtop of the cake. Top with whipped cream if desired. Slice and serve.