A moist gingerbread sheet cake topped with maple buttercream and decorated with soft gingerbread cookies. Perfect holiday party cake to serve to guests this season!
This Recipe is Sponsored by ALDI. All thoughts and text are my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make Two Cups Flour possible.
For many years, I lived in a little mountain town and always loved watching the snow fall on the big pines reaching up to the stars. Its so peaceful in the winter on a dark snow lit night. You can always smell smoke from houses with roaring fireplaces, making it a magical winter experience. I chose to to adorn my sheet cake with that beloved memory. Would love to know how you will decorate your cake!
I'm a big fan of fall spices, especially ginger with cinnamon so when ALDI asked to partner on a holiday recipe using their new baking tools, I immediately thought gingerbread. Most of the time I make round layer cakes, but I decided to go a new route and try a large sheet cake with a decorative winter scene. Incorporating a spice cake with cookies is the ultimate holiday party dessert.
Gingerbread Cake
A classic gingerbread cake is a soft crumb flavored of rich ginger and molasses. The kind of cake that makes you want to snuggle under a warm blanket while the cold air whips around outside.
Often topped with a cream cheese frosting, I chose to use a buttercream for stabilizing my cookie decor. This cake can sit out on the dessert table at your Christmas or holiday party without worry that the icing will melt.
Instead of making gingerbread houses this year, try a gingerbread cookie decorated cake!
Gingerbread Cookies
Is it really the holiday's without gingerbread cookies? Of course not, which is why I baked a double batch of them. One for decorating my cake and one for snacking while I was working so hard!
I prefer a soft gingerbread cookie in contrast to a firm cookie dough recipe used for making gingerbread houses. These cookies are full of flavor and just melt in your mouth. A little bit of homemade royal icing to create snowy designs or you can pipe some of the buttercream on top. I prefer the royal icing since it dries firm and won't smear when the cookies are stacked.
Check out this all in one Crofton Giant Cookie Cutter, available at ALDI, that will give you 21 cutouts with just one press!
Maple Buttercream Frosting
Maple Buttercream Frosting is my go to topping for fall and winter spiced cakes. Its subtle maple flavor is a perfect compliment to the warm notes of molasses, cinnamon, and ginger exploding from the cake and cookies. It will hold its shape at room temperature while your cake is on display, plus its easy to pipe consistency makes for more decorating options.
Holiday Gingerbread Cake Tips
- Check out the Crofton Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl from ALDI with a counter gripping rubber bottom, perfect for mixing cake batter and frosting using a hand held electric mixer.
- Make your cookies ahead of time. So they are ready for decorating once the cake is cool.
- Keep your cookie dough cold to prevent extra spreading in the oven. I like to use super cold cookie dough, cut out my shapes, place them on the cookie sheet, then chill again for a few minutes before popping them in the oven.
- Spray the cake pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper to prevent sticking if you plan on removing cake from pan prior to serving.
- Allow sheet cake to completely cool before removing it from the pan.
- Flip the pan upside down on a flat baking tray, then invert it onto a serving tray.
- Another option is to decorate the cake in the tray.
- Use an offset spatula to spread maple buttercream onto cake before placing your cookies.
- A light dusting of powdered sugar will resemble snow falling.
How to Store Sheet Cake
If you kept the decorated cake in the pan, simply cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 4-5 days. Otherwise place in an air tight container. Unfrosted cake can be sliced and wrapped with plastic wrap, then placed in freezer in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Same storage for gingerbread cookies.
Sheet Cake Pan Conversions
For this recipe you will need a 12x18x2 inch professional sheet cake pan that holds 15.5 cups of batter. This recipe can also work in 'two' 9x13 inch rectangular pans or 'three' 8x2 inch round cake pans.
Gingerbread Sheet Cake and Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
Gingerbread Sheet Cake
- 4 ¼ cups (532 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground all spice
- 1 ½ cups (340 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (330 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups (449 grams) unsulphered molasses
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups (400 grams) buttermilk, room temperature
Gingerbread Cookies
- 3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (165 grams) dark brown sugar, packed
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 3 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- ⅓ cup (113 grams) unsulphered molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 F (170 C) and prepare a 12x18x2 inch sheet cake pan with non-stick baking spray and line with overhanging parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, hand whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Set aside.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or large mixing bowl with hand mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until smooth.
- Scrape bottom and sides of bowl as needed with rubber spatula. Mix in eggs one at a time. Then blend in molasses and vanilla until mixed.
- Then spoon in a third of the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, continuing on medium speed until all mixed in.
- Place pan on the middle rack and bake for 45-48 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with crumbs.
- Set pan on cooling rack to cool completely.
Gingerbread Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) and a large two cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment or large mixing bowl using electric hand mixer, beat softened butter, brown sugar, and egg until well blended.
- Mix in maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla.
- Gradually spoon in dry ingredients, continuing on medium high until blended and smooth.
- Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour to firm.
- Sprinkle rolling surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll dough out to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using cookie cutter lightly dusted in flour. Chill cookies again if they are getting to soft in order to prevent too much spreading in oven.
- Place cookies on cookie sheet two inches apart and bake 8-10 minutes until edges start to brown.
- Place pan on rack to cool for 10min before removing cookies. Use homemade easy royal icing or store bought royal cookie icing to decorate.
Assemble Cake
- Make Maple Buttercream Frosting while cake is cooling.
- Place cooled cake on desired serving tray. Spread frosting onto cake in desired area, top with cookies. Use powdered sugar for snowfall effect.
Notes
- Pan Options: This recipe uses a 12x18x2 inch professional sheet cake pan that holds 15.5 cups of batter. You can instead use 'two' 9x13 inch rectangular pans or 'three' 8x2 inch round cake pans.
Jan
What a gorgeous Winter cake! It really puts me in the mood to bake some yummy gingerbread and holiday cookies. I love your snow scene and can't wait to make it. Thank you for sharing your beautiful snowy recipe!!
Lindsay
The gingerbread cake instructions say to blend in molasses and vanilla, however I don’t see vanilla listed in the cake ingredients. Also, is the brown sugar packed for both the cake and the cookies? Thank you!
Jenn
Hi Lindsay, Yes, brown sugar should be lightly packed, or you can also weigh to be exact. Vanilla is mixed in with molasses and the maple syrup.
Jill
Can I use all purpose flour instead of pastry flour for the cake?
Jenn
Yes, you can evenly swap pastry flour for all purpose.