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This warm gingerbread cake is made of up delicious and classic holiday flavors. Topped with a homemade caramel sauce, it melts in your mouth and flies off of the table. Your guests will love it!
Cakes are the perfect dessert for any occasion! A few more of my favorites that you should try are this Cinnabon cake, honey bun cake, and last but not least this butter pecan cake.
Warm Gingerbread Cake
The holidays are just not complete without a recipe or two made with gingerbread. I love gingerbread! But this cake was seriously the best gingerbread cake that I have had in my life! It baked perfectly and was so moist. The caramel sauce on top was mind-blowing. It went together so well on top of this warm cake. And then add a dollop of fresh whipped cream and I couldn’t stop at just one slice.
Trust me when I say that this recipe is not one to be missed this holiday season! Even if you have no place to go, make this and treat yourself…You won’t regret it. Plus, it’s not hard to make and the leftovers taste fantastic. You can make it ahead of time and just add the sauce on when you are ready to serve it! Your family will go nuts over this amazing cake. It is perfect for the holidays but it’s so good that I might just make it year-round!
Ingredients for Warm Gingerbread Cake
These ingredients are super simple. You don’t have to go out and buy anything fancy at the store. Except maybe molasses, but I think a lot of us have that on hand during this time of year! See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for measurements.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter that had been left out and softened to room temperature.
- Sugar: This sweetens it up just the right amout.
- Molasses: Molassas is a glassic ingredient in most gingerbread recipes.
- Egg: Set your egg out to get to room temperature before baking. It will mix in better!
- Flour: I used all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Baking soda: This is what will help your cake rise and stay light and fluffy.
- Ground ginger and cinnamon: This is where yor classic, holiday flavors come in to play.
- Salt: The salt will enhance all of the ingredients in the recipe.
- Water: You add this in to the creamed mixture.
Caramel Sauce Ingredients
- Brown sugar: Make sure that when you measure this out that you pack it well.
- Cornstarch and water: This helps to thicken up the caramel sauce:
- Butter: Cut this up into cubes so that it melts more quickly in the mixture.
- Vanilla extract: This will enhance the caramel flavor.
- Heavy whipped cream: This is optional to put a dollup on each slice!
Let’s Bake a Cake!
The prep time for this warm gingerbread cake is only 15 minutes. The rest of the time you just have to patiently wait while it cooks… Which to me is the hardest part!
- Preheat oven and prep pans: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round or square pan and set aside. (I used a 9 inch springform pan and it worked great)
- Combine and mix ingredients: In a large bowl or kitchenmaid mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until blended together. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with water.
- Pour and bake: Pour the cake into the 9 inch pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
How to Make the Caramel Sauce
Last, but definitely not least, you need to make this caramel sauce to add to the top of this warm gingerbread cake. This is what really makes this recipe top-notch and you don’t want to skip this step. Make this while your cake is baking so that as soon as it comes out of the oven you can add this to it!
- Mix, boil and stir: In a medium size saucepan, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Add the water and bring to a boil until the sauce starts to thicken about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cubed butter and vanilla until melted and smooth. Serve over warm cake with whipped cream.
Tips for Baking a Warm Gingerbread Cake
This warm gingerbread cake is so delicious that I want it to turn out perfectly for you. Here are a few tips that can help!
- Room temperature ingredients: Whenever I am baking, I like to set out my refrigerated ingredients on my counter about an hour before hand. This warms them up to room temperature and makes them mix more easily. It makes the batter much more smooth!
- Don’t open the oven: I know that it’s tempting to open the oven while something is baking to see how its going but don’t do it! This lets the hot air out and can cause your cake to delate and cook unevenly. Use the oven light instead!
- Serve it warm: Normally you wait until a cake cools to frost it or add toppings but not this one! You want to add on that caramel sauce to each slice when the cake is still warm and serve it then!
How to Store Leftovers
This warm gingerbread cake makes delicious leftovers (if you are lucky enough to have any left). Here is how you can store this and reheat it later!
- On the counter: Wrap your cake up in plastic wrap (or put it in an airtight container) and store it on your counter at room temperature. (It will dry out if you put it in the fridge.) It can last for 3-4 days. Store the caramel sauce in a seperate container in the fridge.
- Reheat: You can put a slice in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Microwave the caramel sauce seperately, for about 1 minute and then stir it up. Add the sauce to the warm cake and it’s like you just pulled this out of the oven!
More Gingerbread Recipes to Try
It’s that time of year when gingerbread is everywhere! Since it really doesn’t get baked at any other time of the year then you need to take advantage of all of the recipes that you can! Here are a few more tried and true recipes that use gingerbread. They are all so good!
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Warm Gingerbread Cake with Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 9 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water
Caramel sauce ingredients:
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/4 cup butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- heavy whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round or square pan and set it aside. (I used a 9-inch springform pan and it worked great)
- In a large bowl or kitchen aid mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until blended together.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with the water.
- Pour the cake into the 9-inch pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
To make the caramel sauce:
- In a medium-size saucepan, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Add the water and bring to a boil until the sauce starts to thicken for about 2 minutes. This is not a thick sauce, so it will be fairly runny. Remove from heat and stir in the cubed butter and vanilla until melted and smooth. Serve over warm cake with whipped cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have you stored this cake for a couple of days – refrigerator or freezer? And can you reward the cake to serve with the sauce? Would appreciate your experiences in making ahead for an event.
Thank you, Jean
I would store it in a refrigerator for about 2 to 3 days. I would wait to add the sauce until before you are ready to serve. Hope that answers your questions and helps! Enjoy your cake! XOXO
This looks delicious! I am going to make for my mom’s birthday. Just wondering, if I make the sauce beforehand, would it be just as good to microwave right before using? Thanks.
Is the temperature supposed to be 325? Mine has had to bake for a long time and the edges are burned now that the middle is finally done. Just wondering if it should be a little hotter.
I just made this tonight. My gosh was it awesome! I added about an extra 1/4 tsp of ground ginger and instead of the sauce posted, I used what I call my “Crack Sauce”. It is just equal parts 35% cream (whip cream) and brown sugar. Heat over the stove and whisk til it is just about to come to a boil. Remove from heat and enjoy. I can’t see why you couldn’t make a slurry of cornstarch and add it once it is about to boil to help thicken it up a bit. However, the gingerbread was so good. It was just what I have been craving. I cooked about 37min at recommended temp and it turned out amazing. Thanks so very much for sharing your easy but delicious recipe with us!