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
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Hi everyone! My name is Cayla Gallagher and I’m the creator of pankobunny!
@pankobunny
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