Moist Gingerbread Cake

5 from 1 vote

This layered Christmas moist gingerbread cake is perfect for winter. It has chocolate chip cookies crumbled in the filling drizzled with salted caramel. It is topped with cream cheese icing and gingerbread cookies.

Prep Time1 15

Cook Time46

Chilling Time2

Total Time4 1

Servings: servings

Calories: 1378kcal

Ingredients

Gingerbread Cake

3 ¼ cup All-purpose flour
3 teaspoon Ground ginger
1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
3 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 cup Unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup Brown sugar packed light or dark
½ cup Molasses unsulfured not blackstrap.
3 Large eggs room temperature
1 Egg yolk room temperature
1 ¼ cup Buttermilk room temperature

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Salt
½ cup Unsalted butter room temperature
¼ cup White granulated sugar
½ cup Brown sugar packed light or dark
½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
1 Large egg room temperature
1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Salted Caramel see other recipe for instructions to make it

Gingerbread Cookies

2 ½ cups All-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Baking soda
¼ teaspoon Salt
3 teaspoon Ground ginger
3 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
⅛ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
½ cup Unsalted butter room temperature
¾ cup Brown sugar packed light or dark
¼ cup White granulated sugar
½ cup Molasses unsulfured not blackstrap.
½ tablespoon Milk
1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
1 Large egg room temperature

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ¼ cup Unsalted butter slightly cold
15 oz Cream cheese room temperature
12 ½ cups Powdered sugar sifted
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoon Heavy cream *this amount of frosting is enough to frost cake, extra decoration, and decorate cookies. See notes for a smaller frosting recipe.

Instructions

Gingerbread Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray three 8 inch cake pans with baking non-stick spray. Line the bottoms with 8 inch parchment circles. Then, spray again. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar. Mix for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add in molasses. Scrape the bowl. Add in eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Mix on low until combined. Scrape the bowl and make sure it is all mixed together.
Add in ⅓ of dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk. Mix until starting to combine. Add the next ⅓ of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Then, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix. Scrape the bowl and beat again on low for 30 seconds.
Pour batter evenly throughout the three cake pans. Use a kitchen scale to make sure it is even. Bake for 18-22 minutes. The cake is done baking when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cakes sit in the pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack. Allow cakes to cool completely. At this point you can wrap and freeze the cakes if making ahead of time.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium for 1 minute. The butter will be light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined. Add in egg. Scrape the bowl and mix until just combined.
Add in the flour a little bit at time. Mix until fully combined. Add in chocolate chips. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with baking silicone mats or parchment paper. Use a large ice cream scoop (to make large cookies) and scoop cookie dough. Place 6 cookie dough balls per cookie sheet.
Bake for 11-14 minutes. The cookies are done baking when the edges are slightly golden brown. Let the cookies sit for 4 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow cookies cool completely. Store in an air tight container until using.
Use the other recipe for salted caramel and store at room temperature.

Gingerbread Cookies

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Use a mixer and beat the butter and both sugars on medium for 1 minute. The butter should be light and fluffy. Add in vanilla, milk, and molasses. Mix until smooth. Scrape the bowl and the egg.
Add in the dry ingredients a little bit at a time. Mix until fully combined. Cover and place in fridge for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Roll the dough on a floured surface. Roll until about ⅓ inch thick. Use cookie cutters to make the gingerbread men. The dough should still be cold. If too warm let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.
Bake for 8-12 minutes until slightly crispy. Cool the cookies on a cooling rack. Store in an air tight container.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Let the butter sit on the counter for 30 minutes. The butter will be slightly cold. Sift the powdered sugar in a big bowl. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium-high for 1 minute. Add in the butter and beat for 1-2 minutes until no butter chunks remain.
Add in the powdered sugar very slowly. Once combined, add in salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix on low until combined, then mix on high for 4 minutes.
Chill the frosting for 15 minutes before using. Use a wooden spoon to beat the air bubbles out of the frosting.

Assemble

Place 1st layer bottom side down. Spread a small amount of frosting on the cake. Pipe 2 layers of frosting around the edges to create a border.
Crumble chocolate chip cookies with your hands or in a blender into very small crumbles. Place the cookie crumbles over the frosting. It should a thick and even layer. You shouldn't see any of the frosting underneath. Drizzle salted caramel over the crumble cookies.
Repeat step 1 and 2 for the second layer. Place last layer bottom side up. Frost the cake in a light layer for a crumb coat. Freeze the cake for 15 minutes.
Frost the rest of the cake in an even layer. Then, pipe border on top of the cake and drizzle salted caramel on top of the cake.
Decorate the cookies and freeze for 5 minutes to set the frosting. Dab a small amount of frosting on the back of the cookies and then place on the cake.

Notes

Cake-

Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour will dry out the cake.

High altitude baking- Add an extra 3 tablespoon of flour.

For any ingredients that say room temperature. Pull out 2 hour before baking.

If freezing the cake, pull the cake 1 hour from the freezer before decorating.

Nutrition