November 9, 2019
Gingerbread Loaf Cake!
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A sweet and spicy gingerbread loaf cake that’s perfect for christmas, and anytime you fancy something gingerbread! Delicious gingerbread sponge, ginger buttercream frosting, and more!
Gingerbread loaf cake
Tis the season to be jolly, and completely full of gingerbread. (I did sing that to myself in the tune, and it worked!). But anyway… IT’S SO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS NOW!
I have always adored gingerbread cake because it is so full of lovely warming flavour, yet makes a change from gingerbread biscuits (not that there is anything wrong with them because helloooo yummy!), but something about ginger cake is just delightful.
Gingerbread
The flavours are similar to sticky toffee pudding in a way, and the mixes are too dissimilar either, but I just adore them both. The thing about gingerbread though? As soon as you even just make the mix of this cake, you house will have a warming smell that reminds you of christmas.
Now, I do often bake cakes similar to this year round, and I know that gingerbread is technically more bonfire night than christmas, but I just relate it to christmas so much more. I love the little gingerbread men you can put on top, and I just loooveeee it.
Repost
This cake was originally up on my blog near four years ago, but through the years of updating my blog and switching all the background stuff around (the stuff that makes my blog work and function) meant that I lost the images for the post!
Yes you could say “what about backups” but I also had an issue with that… so bye bye recipe. Therefore, I decided to repost the cake in all it’s glory, with a bit of an update to the decoration and style, but the sponge is still the classic and delicious it was.
Tin
For the tin, I really do recommend using this loaf tin. I will say this in every loaf cake recipe I do – the tin size can vary SO MUCH, and this has a lot of cake mix. You can switch it up to a different tin if you fancy, but honestly? I just recommend this one to the moon and back.
Decoration
I tend to drizzle my loaf cakes with something sweet just as it can look pretty, but this time I just went for some mini shop bought gingerbread men, and some cute little sprinkles. You can easily use homemade ones, but I find that they always come out so big, and the detail is never the same!
Piping
For the piping, I used my trusty 2D closed star piping tip, and swirled along one way side to side, and then again in the opposite direction. It gives it such a beautiful swirl on the side, and on the top. You can of course pipe on the cake however you fancy, but as we all know I love a thick slab of buttercream on a cake so it worked well!
Old recipe
I’m sorry that this cake was gone for so long – I would have brought it back sooner but I have just been so so busy! If you want to do it the original way, the sponge is the same – it just had a simple water icing dripping instead with some freeze dried raspberries on top!This cake is my ideal for this time of year – it’s easy, delicious, and utterly perfect for winter. I hope you all love this cake as much as I do! Enjoy! x
Gingerbread Loaf Cake!
Ingredients
The Cake
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 225 g dark brown sugar
- 125 g black treacle
- 375 g plain flour
- 4 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 medium eggs
- 225 ml whole milk (warmed)
- 2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
Decoration
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 300 g icing sugar
- 2 tsps ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Gingerbread men
- Gingerbread crumbs
- Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin! (***please see notes below)
- In a pan, gently heat the butter, sugar and treacle together in a pan until smooth, allow to cool for 10 minutes!
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, ginger and cinnamon together and pour in the treacle mix – stir to combine.
- Add in the eggs and stir to combine.
- Mix the bicarbonate of soda in with the warm milk and allow it to froth and thicken a little!
- Mix in with the rest of the mixture and pour into the tin!
- Bake in the oven for 50mins-1 hour, or until baked through! Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then fully cool on a wire rack.
For the Decoration
- Beat your butter on it's own for a few minutes to loosen it and make it lovely and soft!
- Add in the icing sugar, and the spices, and beat again! Continue beating until the buttercream is lovely and fluffy and perfect!
- Pipe your buttercream onto the cake, and decorate with some gingerbread men, and gingerbread crumbs!
Notes
- ***I recommend using this loaf tin for the cake! 2lb loaf tins can vary in size LOADS so please do not over fill your tin. Fill max 2/3 of the way, and make cupcakes with spare mixture if you have any.
- This cake will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days! The flavour keeps on getting better as the days go on.
- You could add some stem ginger to the recipe if you like when you beat in the egg!
- This cake is beautiful with a bit of custard, or a drizzle of cream, or just as it is!
- I also recommend using this piping tip as I just love it!
- And finally, Iced Jems does the BEST sprinkles!
ENJOY!
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Beautiful cake! My first attempt was overbaked after the 50 minutes (I think I got the temperature wrong)… I’d advise a little less time or just to check on it if your oven is a bit aggressive.
Please can I ask, have you tried making this with a milk substitute?
Hiya! I have not, but its worth a go! Let me know how it goes! x
Hi
I made this today in a 2lb loaf tin and like others had some spare mix for cupcakes! My question is, the top of the loaf has cracked is that normal? Lol…. It’s smelling lovely, can’t wait to try it !!
Thanks 😊
Hiya! Yes – loaf cakes can crack at the top but this is normal! x
Really tasty cake but I found the quantity off as well. I always use your recipes and the loaf tins you recommend but this is the first time there has been too much mix. I didn’t put it all in as it seemed too much and it still rose dangerously close to the edge but thankfully just contained it. It was delicious though xx
Hi Jane,
Want to make this for a birthday but they love chocolate too – could I add chocolate chips into the recipe and if so would I need to reduce any other ingredients?
Thankyou! X
Hey, could I use this recipe for gingerbread cupcakes instead of a loaf cake? Would I need to change anything?
Hi Jane, thank you for all your recipes. I recently made your mini Terrys chocolate orange cheesecake and it turned out really well.
I’ve been wanting to make mini ginger cakes in that same tin, could i use these ingredients for this ginger cake recipe and maybe half them? Would the cooking time and oven temp be the same as this recipe?
Can I do this with self raising flour and remove the bicarb?
Hello. I wouldn’t recommend this x
Hi I really want to try this recipe, could I change the dark brown sugar to light brown sugar or would it make too much of a difference ? Many thanks. X
You definitely can – its just a slightly lighter flavour!
What a treat! Loved it. So moist , light and delicious. I did cream cheese and lime icing. Works excellent
Hi Jane, love your recipes this is the 1st one I’ve had a bit of bother with. The mixture didn’t mix well and there were small little lumps when pouring in to loaf tin. Did I do something wrong? Allowed mixture to cool and all but the flour didn’t mix properly.
Unfortunately if the flour was a little lumpy or you haven’t mixed it well enough there will be lumps – try and sift the flour well and use a whisk or similar to gradually add it to prevent it if you struggle x
So delicious and looks great! Made it for Christmas for the family
This was soooooooo delicious!!! My new favourite receipt… am wondering if I made the same recipe but put it in muffin cases instead of a loaf tin, would I still put it in the oven for 55 mins? (Sorry if that’s a dumb question)
Hiya – no the time will reduce. The timings are based on an entire cake not individual ones. Cupcake versions take about 22 minutes!
Hi can you freeze the gingerbread loaf cake ?
Yes you can!
Made this with my daughter who is 9. It is so tasty and a great recipe to do with kids who are interested in baking!!
Made this last Christmas and it was delicious. I absolutely love gingerbread and this did not disappoint!! I’m making it again this year but this time with the buttercream, gingerbread men sprinkles etc and I am so looking forward to it!!! A gorgeous sticky gingerbread loaf 😍
Hi Jane,
These look great! Could I use golden syrup instead of treacle? Thanks!
Yep!!
Amazing cake, good recipe easy to follow
Brilliant recipe, I made a loaf and 12 cupcakes with the amount I had, we don’t use milk so I used coconut milk, it didn’t make the bicarb fizz but it still worked great and is so lovely and moist. I thought id done something wrong as the mixture was so funny but like with every JP recipe it came out great x
I made this over the weekend. A practise cake on Saturday and then 5 more on Sunday for work colleagues and friends. I used the cake tin suggested for some and similar sizes for the rest. Loved how easy it was and even more I loved how much everyone enjoyed it. Thank you for a fab cake. Now I need to see what to bake next.
Amazing cake and easy to follow recipe
Oh dear, I hadn’t read the comment about lots of people using a loaf tin AND muffin tray and this has just exploded all over the oven! It was very full, but I usually don’t have to make adjustments to your recipes so just went with it. Eek! I shall try and rescue it into something resembling a loaf cake!
Hey – as mentioned on the post by myself as well you need to keep an eye on your tin as they do vary in size. It’s always recommend to read the blog post first! x
Can you use stork instead of butter in the cake?? Thanks 😊
In the cake, yes!!
Love this recipe! Instructions are very clear so I found it very easy and quick to make. I was a little concerned the mixture was too runny but it turned out great! I used a loaf tin with the same dimensions as the one linked in the post and it filled it perfectly. Mine took 1 hour to bake and stayed lovely and moist overnight stored in Tupperware. I don’t have a piping bag so just spread on the icing and swirled it with a knife. I was thrilled with how it turned out and everyone loved it!
Thank you for a fab recipe x
There is something seriously wrong with the quantities in this recipe, I filled my 2lb loaf tin to the brim and had enough mix left to fill six muffin cases. The loaf spilled all over the oven then fell to bits when I tried to get it out the tin. I’m not going to waste my butter icing and decorations on it so we will be eating it warm with ice cream, custard or cream. Surely it needs a bigger loaf tin? Or it makes two loaves?
I baked my cupcakes for 20 minutes and they came out perfect so I think this would be better for making cupcakes in future, quite a few of them probably!
As mentioned on the post 2lb loaf tins can vary much vary – but I have linked the one I use and it fits perfectly. Sometimes (I have no idea why) they can really be very differently sized but unfortunately it happens!
Hi, I always make your cakes and they are lovely. I made this yesterday exactly to your recipe and baked for 50mins. I stored it overnight in a cake tin and iced it this morning. We have just had a slice and it is really dry. Any idea what I did wrong?
It can just be slightly over baked – the texture is different to a normal cake (as it’s gingerbread sponge) so it sounds a little over baked. Did you store it in the fridge? as that could have also done it!
Hi Jane, I’m not a massive fan of cinnamon but I can appreciate it adding a nice spice balance to a cake. If I’m not a fan would you reccomend reducing the amount in the cake? Or is it just a subtle flavour?
You can leave it out, or just reduce it – I wouldn’t say its a strong flavour, it’s just enhancing the gingerbread flavours! X
Hi,
All of your loaf cakes always look so lovely and even, but each one I have made always comes out a bit lopsided – this one especially with one side raising much more than other. Is there anything you think might help with this?☺️
That sounds like it could be your oven – its worth trying a different shelf, or changing where you put the cake in the oven etc! X
Hi Jane, love your recipes!
Would it be possible to use semi skimmed milk instead?
I generally don’t recommend using anything apart from full-fat/whole milk in baking any more as it can make things split, but it’s up to you x
I loved making this …. I’m doing a gingerbread man festival for my sons 4th birthday in December…. for me it made a healthy loaf tin and 12 cupcakes too … i am a rubbish cake decorator and must of done something wrong with the piping bag and nozzle… so used a pallet knife in the end … I made my own gingerbread men too as im in practice mode for the luttke ones birthday. Lovely recipe and thank you for the brilliant steps and tips. Thanks so much
Can I ask where you get the little gingerbread men from please?
Love all your recipes though.
xx
You can get them in the festive aisle in the supermarket usually, or brands like mcvities/walkers sometimes do them too!
After lots of successful cakes from your page my husbands work has asked for a sticky ginger cake, do you think I could add a syrup to this recipe instead of icing?
Yes I reckon that would work well! x
Hi Jane,
I love baking your recipes. And my friends love eating them too!
I recently baked your Gingerbread traybake and it was a mega hit with friends.
I just baked the Gingerbread loaf. It tastes delicious but I thought the quantities were way off for a 2lb loaf tin. Thetemixture just went over the tin and spilled over. I think your recipe is more suitable for 20cm square cake tin.
Thanks anyway for posting lovely recipes.
Hiya! Thank you so much! Annoyingly all 2lb loaf tins can vary in size, this is why i always recommend only filling your tin 2/3 full to achieve the best bake. Hope that helps! x
Hi Jane, I have made this cake lots of times and goes down a treat, I have
Just bought a giant cup cake mould (big top silicone bakeware) would
You tell me the how much ingredients I would need please, thanks in advance!!
I’m afraid I can’t be certain as all moulds can vary so much – I would hazard a guess and assume you could just use the measurements on this but I really am not sure! x
Just made this. It tastes amazing. My decorating skills are not brilliant but so pleased with the results. Practice will make perfect!
Hello.
Mine came out quite “dough” like, if that makes sense?
Is this normal?
If not, where have a I gone wrong?
Thanks
X
A gingerbread cake is quite a bit denser than a normal sponge and it’s meant to be like that x
Hi there I made this on Thursday and stored in fridge but it’s very dry? How am I supposed to store it?
Hey! You should never store cake in a fridge. Room temp, in a cake box or tin.
Best ginger recipe ever! I made it as a tray bake instead of the loaf tin and baked for 35 mins and it was perfect. Everyone loved it thank you
I’ve got a full 2lb loaf cake and 12 cupcakes out off this recipe! Smells amazing, looking forward to decorating it to sell at the school play tomorrow. (And to taste testing one of the cupcakes first! 😋)
I made 3 small loafs out of this recipe and like another comment took much less time to bake. However, my cakes seemed a little bit dry not like the carrot tray bake I made which was a winner and so moist.
If they were dry they were over baked, that’s all!
This also works great as a vegan recipe!!
I substituted each egg for 1/4 cup of aquafaba (the liquid from canned chick peas) and the butter and milk for plant based alternatives and it came out great!
Oh this is great to know! I was gonna try either applesauce or flax egg. Currently make this one but want to offered a vegan option too in work and not have to make two different batches.
Love the look of this, do you think it would work as cupcakes for a Christmas fair, as easier to sell individual cakes?
Just wondering on the exact sprinkles you used for the decoration please?
Sprinkles are linked on the post!
Could I make this and freeze it? I am doing all the Christmas desserts this year so I need to make some in advance.
Yes you can!
I am having 10 guests for lunch on Christmas Day 2019 this year and I am going to have a try at making this. Wish me luck, it sounds fabulous.
This looks so nice! When you say mix the bicarb into warm milk – is this to a simmer/should it not boil?
Yes – it needs to be warm, and not hot!
Made this today it was lovely, however it only took 35 mins in the oven so you’re right to say check before 45! Everyone commented on the lovely fiery, warming flavours. Will bake again!
Looks gorgeous! I’m planning to bake loaf cakes as presents for my daughter’s teachers at Christmas and this looks perfect. I have already bought cardboard 1lb loaf ‘tins’ – will this work if I do half the mixture in one and half in the other and cook both at the same time? Would I need to reduce cooking time do you think? Thanks in advance! Xx
I believe it will work, and yes the time will reduce!!