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slice of gingerbread cake with orange glaze
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Gingerbread Cake

This Gingerbread Cake is incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and topped with a simple orange icing. The perfect holiday dessert!
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time45 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: christmas cake, gingerbread, orange icing, spiced cake, winter cake
Servings: 15 people
Calories: 301kcal
Author: Jennifer Debth

Equipment

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cake

  • ½ cup unsalted butter melted
  • ½ cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 cup molasses not unsulphured/blackstrap*
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves **
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup hot water

Orange Glaze***

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons orange juice
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Gingerbread Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
  • Place melted butter, brown sugar, applesauce, egg, molasses, and vanilla extract into a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
  • Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and whisk a few times to start to combine the mixture.
  • Slowly pour in the hot water, then whisk until the batter is *just* combined.
  • Pour batter into the prepared baking dish then bake in the preheated over for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out *almost* clean.
  • Cool before drizzling with glaze, then serve room temperature or warm.

Orange Glaze

  • Place powdered sugar and orange juice into a medium sized bowl then whisk until smooth. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker glaze or more orange juice for a thinner glaze.
  • Pour over cooled cake, then serve and enjoy room temperature or warm!
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Notes

*I’ve successfully replaced 1/2 the molasses with pure maple syrup when I ran out!
**Allspice is a great substitute if you don’t have cloves or if cloves is too strong of a flavor for you.
***See What Icing Goes with Gingerbread Cake for different frosting suggestions.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 301kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 391mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 221IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2mg