Well, if you’ve landed on this recipe you have landed on the first blog post I have ever written! So you may find grammar mistakes, misspelling and a little rambling in this post, but further down you’re gonna find a recipe that is beyond amazing! It’s actually the best cake recipe I have written to date, in my opinion. So if you’re not into rambling then I would hit that jump to recipe button and get started on the only gluten free gingerbread cake you’re ever gonna need.
I have a thing for gingerbread, it just screams holidays to me. It’s warm and soft and fluffy and all the things you want in a holiday dessert. When I was young, my mom would always make christmas cookie boxes to give to her friends and it always had gingersnaps in it. Although this is a cake recipe and not a cookie recipe, the flavor of gingerbread always makes me think of my mom.
room temp ingredients
When you are baking this cake, you want to be sure not to overbake it. While that may seem like an obvious thing to say, it’s key to maintaining the moisture in the cake. Along with that, you are going to want to make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature. What this does is ensure that nothing seizes up when you add each ingredient. If you add a cold egg to melted butter, the butter will always solidify – which then alters the final texture of your cake.
gluten free flour tips
In this recipe I use gluten free 1 to 1 flour, my go to gluten free flour is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour. I have tried so many gluten free flour blends and I always go back to this one. It’s easy to get, you can find it at most grocery stores and I find that it has the most similar texture to regular gluten filled flour. You can sub in regular all purpose flour for this recipe if you do not like gluten free flour!
Here’s a major tip for you if you are working with gluten free flour. Always loosley scoop it, you do not want it tightly packed in your measuring cup. You can use a spoon to scoop it into your cup or you can scoop it and lightly shake it so it loosens.
f a q
Yes! You can sub in regular flour if you do not use gluten free flour
You can! I prefer the final result of the oil + butter combo, it gives a nice fluffy moist cake with a good flavour. But if you do not have oil you can sub in additional 3 tbsp melted butter.
No you can totally have the cake just is! It’s amazing on its own, especially warm right out of the oven!
In this recipe I use approx 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting – because it is fairly sweet – but it does leave the frosting on the softer side. If you want a firmer frosting you can simply add more powdered sugar until you have reached your desired thickness!
if you make this recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram or leave a comment below!
gluten free gingerbread cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups gluten free flour loosely scooped, I use bob's red mill
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 egg room temp
- 1 cup molasses
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup boiling water
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste sub vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
For cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 8×8” pan, set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt + spices. Once combined, add in brown sugar, melted butter, egg, molasses + vegetable oil. Mix until combined.
- While mixing on low, slowly add in boiling water in a steady stream. Once all water is added, mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour into lined pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until knife comes out clean. If you want your cake a bit more on the dense side, you can slightly under bake your cake.
- Once cake is cooked, let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan and let it finish cooling on a cooling rack.
For cream cheese frosting
- Add cream cheese + butter to mixture and mix on medium high until light and fluffy. Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mix. Add in vanilla and cinnamon, beat until light and fluffy and well combined. You can add in more or less cinnamon depending on how strong you want that flavour. Same goes with the sugar, if you want a stiffer frosting, add in more sugar.
