This Fresh Gingerbread Bundt Cake is a perfect holiday dessert, and makes a great edible gift for a friend, coworker or neighbor!
My kids absolutely love ginger. From Ginger Lemon Honey Tea and Carrot Ginger Soup to Stir-Fried Brown Rice Chinese Noodles, we go through our fair share of fresh ginger. This Gingerbread Bundt Cake recipe is chock full of fresh ginger and is absolutely delicious! I was initially wary of 1/2 a cup of fresh ginger being too much for a cake, but the flavor mellows with baking and totally makes this recipe what it is — the rich sweetness of molasses combined with the distinctive zip of ginger in each moist bite is totally insane tasting.
I gave the kids a big slice of this cake for their after school snack and they said it was the best thing I’ve ever made. Yes they’ve said that to me before about other things I’ve made, but this time I think they really meant it! I think I may agree too. There’s something special about the cake – you’ve got to try it!
I have a couple tips for you when you make this cake. First of all, get yourself a good grater to mince the ginger with. It makes a huge difference and goes so much faster. Also, in case you didn’t know, you can peel the ginger with the back of a spoon! It’s super easy. Next, and I cannot stress this enough, DILIGENTLY grease your pan so that the cake doesn’t stick and let it cool completely before you try to get it out. There’s nothing worse than a delicious cake that ends up in pieces!
Baking during the holidays is so much fun. The kids always get involved and fill up the kitchen with their little smiles while we decorate sugar cookies or pour cake batter into a pan. If you’re looking for some fun desserts to get you in the spirit try these Holiday Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Bars, Cake Mix Sprinkle Cookies, Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake or these Sugar Cookie Trees!
Let me know what you think of this Gingerbread Bundt Cake! It’s one of my all time favorites!
Fresh Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10 inch bundt pan
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups unsulfured dark molasses (do not use blackstrap)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups canola, vegetable or peanut oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup packed, peeled and minced ginger
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Liberally butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the molasses, sugar and oil.
- In a small pot, bring the water to a boil. Remove pot from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Whisk the water into the molasses mixture and then whisk in the ginger.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture, and stir just until the flour is absorbed. Whisk in the beaten eggs. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan, about an hour, before removing. Use a knife to gently cut between the cake and bundt pan to help loosen the cake before placing on a large plate.
This is one of our most favorite (new) holiday traditions. We make it every year for a hygge party and serve it with homemade lemon curd. It is always a big hit – I often never even get to have a taste before it is completely devoured. 🙂 / 🙁
I promise – this cake will make you the hit of any holiday party!
I’m so happy you love it 🙂 It’s one of my absolute FAV cakes to make during the holidays!
I was so excited to make this but it turned out nice and moist but bitter. Any ideas?
I made this for my 95 year old mother in law for Christmas. She said it was too good to share. She eats very little and loves ginger so we cut it in individual servings and froze them so she can snack on it for the next month. Thanks for such a great recipe!
This was the yummiest gingerbread I have ever eaten! So delicious & moist! I could have eaten the whole thing!
It was very delicious, spicy, and wholesome tasting. I used whole wheat flour and raw sugar. I was afraid it would end up dry, but it was quite good. I will definitely make this again. Thank you
Fantastic! It took 1 hour, with convection on. I have a good oven, my last one would not have cooked such a moist cake, so I understand some of the comments below. My only gripe is that the prep is a lot more than 15 minutes if you are hand mincing the ginger as I was. I will make this again.
Oh no! What kind of molasses did you use?
Horrible. I followed the ingredients and directions to the letter. It was in the oven for an hour and a half. It totally stuck to the prepared pan and still wasn’t done in the center. Plus the taste was bitter. It fell apart when I tried to take the cooled cake out of the pan. I was hoping to salvage it in a cobbler or something but the taste was horrible. This is the ONLY time I have ever thrown out a whole cake. I’ve been baking for years, my oven’s temp is fine and my ingredients are all fresh. I was really looking forward to this, but it just didn’t work.
I made this for my son’s 2nd birthday this past weekend. He gobbled it, and so did we. I used a loaf pan, and found it needed about an hour and a half to bake. I used blackstrap molasses for the extra iron and found the taste to be earthy, rich and not as sweet, i thought it was perfect! I did ice it though, with a vanilla cream icing. Thanks for all your recipes, I love them!
I just double checked the book and they even have a note to not use blackstrap molasses! So sorry! I’ve added that note to the recipe.
Blackstrap molasses is more bitter than other types, that is probably the culprit!
I tried making this over the weekend and used blackstrap molasses. Unfortuantely it didn’t taste all that great. Should I have used more sugar?
Yes! You can make this is a loaf pan! It would probably make two loaves. Follow directions exactly. I would check it at about 40 minutes!
Can this recipe be made in a loaf pan? Really want to try this recipe as a Xmas gift for the cook who has everything but would rather not have to buy a bundt pan if can be made in a loaf pan.
I think any of those would work! Keep the temp the same, just check it around 40 minutes for a cake pan and around 25 minutes for muffins!
Hi! I don’t have a bundt pan and I was wondering if I could use a square metal pan, rectangular pyrex glass or muffin pan instead? Would cooking time and temp be the same?
thanks so much!