Gingerbread Cake with Butter Rum Toffee Sauce

Gingerbread Cake is  perfect for the winter holidays. Easy to make with warming spices. Topped with homemade Butter Rum Toffee sauce!

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Gingerbread is a classic for Christmastime. Warm, rich flavors that only surface in the winter and around the holidays.

Though normally thought of in the form of little, simply shaped 'men', Gingerbread Cake is a wonderful dessert addition to the season's sweets!

Drizzle on some Butter Rum Toffee Sauce and it tastes like the spirit of the season.

I love this dessert. It's easy to make and feels straight out of Charles Dickens to me.

Gingerbread Cake

I found this recipe in a recipe file I had in college. Candidly I have no memory of it but the writing on the recipe card IS mine!

Not sure if I made it prior, copied it down from a friend or from whence it came.

Wherever it came from I'm glad I had it (and think you will be too)!

What is Gingerbread Cake?

This Gingerbread Cake is moist and soul-stirring with flavors not often found in current day cakes.

The molasses provides a deep, rich flavor, complementing the ginger and cinnamon.

Gingerbread cake tastes like other forms of gingerbread, just in a cake form.

What are the Ingredients in Gingerbread Cake?

Basic cake ingredients are also included in Gingerbread Cake. The key ingredients that provide the deep gingery flavor are the molasses, cinnamon and ginger.

Gingerbread spices can be a combination of a number of different warming spices we think of in fall and winter desserts.

• Shortening
• Granulated Sugar
• Egg 
• Molasses
• Water
• All-Purpose Flour (gluten free or regular)
• Baking Soda
• Kosher Salt
• ground Ginger
• ground Cinnamon

Make it Gluten-Free or with Gluten!

The flour used will determine whether the cake will be gluten-free or with gluten.

For gluten-free bakers: I suggest using your favorite cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend.

Butter Rum Toffee Sauce

The Gingerbread Cake is delicious on its own (would be great with some eggnog ice cream on top too).

However, I have my grandmother's recipe for Butter Rum Toffee Sauce that seemed a perfect pairing.

My grandmother's sauce calls for melting rum toffee candies as the base flavor which did not seem difficult until I started hunting for rum toffees…..and hunting, and hunting.

Clearly not a modern-day favorite or even mass produced any longer.

I recreated the toffee flavors through sugar and use of rum and the sauce is heavenly!

How to Store Gingerbread Cake & How Long Will Gingerbread Cake Last?

Store extra gingerbread cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 5-7 days. The flavor will even improve over the first few days!

How to Store Butter Rum Toffee sauce? How Long Will It Last?

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Can you Freeze Gingerbread Cake?

Yes! Wrap the cake with multiple layers of plastic wrap followed by foil to ensure it is airtight. Store up to 6 months in the freezer.

How to Make Gingerbread Cake – Step by Step:

This is an easy cake to bake! Here are the steps; refer to the recipe card below for detailed instructions.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9 x 9 pan by lining with parchment paper and spraying with cooking spray.
3. Mix together shortening, sugar and egg until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, combine boiling water and molasses; stirring to dissolve molasses. Pour into shortening mixture and mix to combine.
5. In another separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Stir together.
6. Slowly add to the batter, beating slowly to fully combine. Pour into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the sides of the cake are pulling away from the pan and the top of the cake is firm to the touch.
8. Remove from heat and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

More Holiday Dessert Recipes You’ll Love:

• Eggnog Magic Cake
• Holiday Pavlova with Raspberries, Pomegranate, Kiwi and Mint
• Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Ganache
• Sparkling Sugar Plums

If you've made this Gingerbread Cake recipe please RATE THE RECIPE below!

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Recipe

Gingerbread Cake with Butter Rum Toffee Sauce

This is a deep, sultry Gingerbread Cake made perfect with a creamy Butter Rum Toffee sauce. Add whipped cream and life couldn't be better. Beautiful for the holidays.

5 from 7 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 9

Calories: 516kcal

Author: Toni Dash

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Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Cake:

• ▢ ½ cup soft Shortening (E.g. Crisco shortening or equivalent)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons granulated Sugar
• ▢ 1 Egg , room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup Molasses
• ▢ 1 cup boiling Water
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups all purpose Flour (gluten free or regular)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground Ginger
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

For the Butter Rum Toffee Sauce:

• ▢ ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted Butter
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated Sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup Light Brown Sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• ▢ ¼ cup Rum
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Cornstarch

Instructions

Instructions for Gingerbread Cake:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 9 pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.
• In the bowl of a free standing mixer* mix together shortening, sugar and egg until combined.
• In a separate bowl, combine boiling water and molasses; stirring to dissolve molasses. Pour into shortening mixture and mix to combine.
• In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Stir together. Slowly add to the batter, beating slowly to fully combine.
• Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the sides of the cake are pulling away from the pan and the top of the cake is firm to the touch. Remove from heat and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Instructions for Butter Rum Toffee Sauce:

• Combine butter and sugars in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat; allow butter to melt and sugar to dissolve. Stir constantly until butter begins to turn light brown (around 5 minutes).
• Whisk in the cream, rum, vanilla and cornstarch. Whisk constantly allowing sauce to thicken (about 15 minutes). Note: sauce will continue to thicken when removed from heat so it may not seem as thick as it will be in the end.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken. Can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 2 weeks and rewarmed when using.

Notes

*can be made using a hand held mixer

Nutrition

Serving: 9g | Calories: 516kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 278mg | Potassium: 601mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 440IU | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 3.4mg

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Originally published: December 20, 2012