Gingerbread Man Cake
This moist, delicious cake is full of gingerbread spices and layered with gingerbread buttercream, Grand Marnier-soaked cranberries and ginger jam! CHECK OUT MY MERCH! Use code LASTCHANCE for 10% off! teespring.com/stores/pankobunny
Ingredients
Gingerbread Spice Mix:
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp allspice
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp ground cloves
Boozy berries:
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup grand marnier can be substituted with orange juice, for a non-alcoholic version
Cake batter:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder + extra for dusting the pan
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1-2 tbsp Gingerbread Spice Mix
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Buttercream:
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Gingerbread Spice Mix
- 2 tbsp cup cocoa powder
- brown food coloring
- ¼ cup ginger jam
- peppermint candies
Instructions
Make the Gingerbread Spice Mix:
- Combine all spices in a bowl.
Make the boozy berries:
- Pour the dried cranberries and grand marnier into a bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use (I soaked mine for 1 full day – the longer you soak, the stronger they will taste).
Bake the cake:
- Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, gingerbread spice mix and salt in a large bowl and mix together.
- Add the milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract and mix with an electric mixer until combined.
- Slowly add the boiling water and mix until well combined.
- Grease a gingerbread man cake pan and dust with cocoa powder instead of flour. This will create an even richer flavor! Pour the batter into a pan and bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Make the buttercream:
- Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and gingerbread spice and mix well. Add the confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time, beating with each addition.
- Place about 1 1/2 cups of buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized round piping tip.
- 3.To the remaining buttercream, add the cocoa powder and brown food coloring and mix well.
Assembly:
- Slice the cake into 2 layers. Carefully remove the top layer and set aside.
- Pipe ¾ of the white buttercream onto the bottom layer of cake. Use a cake spatula to smooth the frosting.
- Drain the cranberries. You can keep the grand marnier for cocktails – it’ll have a cranberry flavor! Scatter the cranberries onto the white buttercream, along with dollops of ginger jam.
- Place the remaining cake layer on top. Cover the entire cake in a thick, generous layer of brown buttercream.
- Pipe a border, a face squiggly lines and buttons onto the gingerbread man with the remaining white buttercream. Stick peppermint candies onto the buttons and enjoy!
Video
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Hi everyone! My name is Cayla Gallagher and I’m the creator of pankobunny!
I’m In The Mood For:
@pankobunny
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: Invalid Feed ID.