This gingerbread cake with bourbon cream is filled with all the most wonderful Christmas spices and is topped off with bourbon-spiked whipped cream and candied cranberries.
Gingerbread is something my family has always had at Christmas time. My mom would doctor up a box mix and make an absolutely delicious sheet cake. She would top it off with a bit of cool whip or whipped cream, and we all thought it was the best thing ever.
I wanted to create a cake that tasted as good (scratch that, better) than that box mix, and that was gorgeous enough to be a Christmas dinner dessert show stopper.
The flavor:
It took me ages to get the balance of spices and molasses just right. In fact, I made this cake 6 different times to get it 100% right. So trust me when I say that there is just the right amount of ginger, cinnamon, clove, and molasses in this cake.
Why sour cream?
I chose to make this cake with sour cream instead of milk to make it as moist as possible. Sour cream does several wonderful things to cakes; it helps keep them moist; it helps provide a wonderful velvety texture and gives them just a little bit of tang. And iI thought that this cake would benefit from all of that.
Baking with molasses
Molasses is a very stodgy and sticky syrup, so in this recipe, I added ¼ cup hot water to my molasses to help loosen it up. This helps it to mix with the other ingredients fully.
The bourbon cream:
This spiked Bourbon whipped cream is the easiest thing to make! The only trick to make sure you don’t over whip the cream. You are looking for soft peaks.
The sugared cranberries:
I used joy the baker's recipe for sugared cranberries.
Gingerbread Cake with Bourbon Cream
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 9 inch cake 1x
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ⅔ cup butter
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup molasses mixed with ¼ cup hot water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup bourbon
For the whipped cream
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream,
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 -4 tablespoon sugar
- 3 tbsp bourbon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two 9 inch cake pans with butter and parchment.
- Cream the brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy—about 3 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Once the sugar and butter have been creamed, add the eggs one at a time.
- Next, mix in the sour cream and molasses/water mixture.
- Slowly mix in the flour ⅓ at a time.
- Lastly, mix in the bourbon and vanilla.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes or until the sponge springs back when touched and a knife comes out clean.
For the bourbon cream:
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Assembly:
Once the cake has thoroughly cooled, place ½ of the whipped cream on top of one layer. Cover that layer with the other layer of cake and use the remaining whipped cream on the top. Create a not to deep well in the center and fill with sugared cranberries.
Dawn says
Sounds delicious. Could you tell me how I could convert this to mini-cupcakes? I’d like to do it for an upcoming holiday event but it needs to be finger food. Thank you!
pate giltner says
Hi! Mini gingerbread muffins sound fabulous! In theory, they should bake well in a mini muffin pan at 350 for 7-8 minutes. I have never attempted that with this recipe, so I would definitely test it first and keep a very close eye on them while baking. Hope you have a wonderful party!
Patrick Meredith says
I never baked with parchment paper. Can you explain how I do the butter and parchment? Is it circular paper for bottom and butter sides? Please explain process so I can buy the paper. I have all the ingredients for Xmas eve.
Lastly how soon before serving can I make the whipping cream and assemble before serving
thanks
pate giltner says
Hi Patrick! To prepare the cake pans, rub cold or room temperature around the bottom and sides of the pans. Then trace the outline of the pans on the parchment paper then cut out traces circles and place in the pans. Then fill with the batter and bake!
I would make and assemble the cake the same day if you can, and just store it in the fridge until your ready to serve. The cream will be good for 2 hours at room temperature, more time than that and it will need to be refrigerated. Have a great holiday!
Patrick says
Great thanks. Buyer under the parchment huh? Ok. Then I guess it peels off. Never used it before.
pate giltner says
Yep! It peels right off, it’s just there to prevent sticking.
Patrick says
Not sure if my last comment posted. Can I leave cakes out of fridge overnight then do all assembly tomorrow.
pate giltner says
Hi, yes. But cakes could dry out so make sure they are very tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
Kimberly says
I made this and it was very pretty, very professional looking and EXTREMELY dry. And I’m an experienced good baker. So disappointing.