As a little girl, one of my favorite treats to make and eat was gingerbread cookies. Every year, during the holidays, I would make these cookies with my noni. I especially liked decorating them with icing and silver dragées. Today’s recipe brings me back to those days as it is filled with flavorful gingerbread spices and topped with a sweet frosting glaze.
The Recipe
I would like to thank Megan at A Dash of Megnut for inspiring me to make this festive dessert. This cake is not only gorgeous and flavorful but is gluten-free as well. If you so desire you can also add a tart flavor to compliment this cake by topping it with sugary cranberries if you so desire. The recipe for sugared cranberries can be found here. This dessert is easy to prepare with only a few simple steps. This is also the perfect treat for serving at any gathering and will get everyone in the holiday spirit.
The Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 Teaspoon Butter (Shortening or Vegetable Oil, for Coating Pan)
2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar (For Coating the Pan)
2 1/2 Cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend (I Used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum (Only if Your Gluten-Free Blend Doesn’t Already Contain It)
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Buttermilk
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Molasses
2 Eggs
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
For the Topping:
4 Ounce Cream Cheese (Softened)
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2-3 Tablespoons of Water
1 Cup of Sugared Cranberries
Step-by-Step Instructions
Preparing the Cake Batter
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. With making sure to cover all of the nooks, grease the bundt pan with butter, shortening, or vegetable oil. Sprinkle the coated pan with the granulated sugar and rotate the bundt pan to move the sugar around until the entire pan is coated.
Dispose of extra granulated sugar and set the pan aside.
In a large bowl, combine the gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum (only if your flour blend does not already contain it), baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk the dry ingredients until just combined and then set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the light brown sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, molasses, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk the wet ingredients for a couple of minutes until the mixture is smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix all of the ingredients together using a whisk or spatula until there are no more streaks or lumps of flour. This should just take a minute or so of flow whisking. Make sure not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Baking the Cake
Bake for forty to fifty minutes, until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake, comes out clean. Let cool for ten minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.
Glazing the Cake
When the cake is cool, make the cream cheese glaze by adding the softened cream cheese to a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix for one to two minutes until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and two tablespoons of the milk and mix until your desired consistency is reached. Add an additional tablespoon of milk if you think you need it.
Spoon the glaze over the cooled bundt cake and top with sugared cranberries if so desired before serving. Allow for your cake to cool properly before inverting. It’s also important to let the cake cool before glazing it. If it’s too warm, the glaze will run off the cake completely and will likely soak into the cake making the glaze close to invisible.
Now it’s time to enjoy your festive treat. Happy Holidays!
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