Gingerbread Cake with Buttercream Frosting

All we can say is "Yes, Please!" to this stunning gingerbread cake with buttercream frosting. If you're looking for something to take to a holiday party, this cake has you covered.

If you're worried about your cake building skills not being  up-to-par, do not fret. This cake is easy to assemble and decorate. All you need is an offset spatula and a ridged piping tip. Let's get started!

Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 stick butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup buttermilk

Frosting Ingredients:

4 sticks unsalted butter, softened

6 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Set oven to 350 degrees and grease and line three 9-inch cake pans.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together. Once fluffy and incorporated, add eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Alternating between dry ingredients and buttermilk, add into butter, sugar and egg mixture in 3 parts starting with the dry ingredients. Once fully incorporated, add molasses and mix.

Fill the prepared cake pans evenly and bake for 30-45 minutes until a skewer comes out of the cake clean.

While the cakes are baking, let's make our frosting! Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. If the frosting seems to stiff, add a splash of milk. If it seems too runny, add a little more powdered sugar. Once it reached the proper consistency, add the vanilla.

Once the cakes are cooled, stack the cakes and frosting in three layers. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes until the frosting has set enough that the cake is relatively stable. Remove from refrigerator and frost the outside of the cake in a very thin coat. For the "naked cake" effect, scrape your offset spatula along the outside until you reach your preferred look.

With the leftover frosting, load it into a piping bag or large plastic bag with a ridged piping tip. Top your cake with dollops of swirled frosting, crumbled gingerbread, and caramel.

With this recipe, you can have your cake and enjoy it too!

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