Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Rich, warm, spicy, tangy, and sweet.
Texture: The cake is ultra moist, spongey, and soft while the frosting is lucious and creamy.
Ease: Super simple and easy to make and transport!
Pros: Fun and festive recipe for a holiday party.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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This easy Gingerbread Sheet Cake is the perfect cake recipe to bring to a Christmas potluck or white elephant party.
The combination of gingerbread and cream cheese frosting is one I discovered a couple years ago.
I fell in love with how the tangy cream cheese complements the rich spiciness of the cake.
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If you also love this flavor combination, check out my recipe for Gingerbread Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s basically the cookie version of this sheet cake!
This recipe is simple enough to make on a weekday – or make the cake a day in advance and frost the day you plan to serve it.
I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Easy Gingerbread Sheet Cake
What is Texas-Style Sheet Cake?
This is a super easy method of making sheet cake that will feel totally wrong if you’ve never done it before. You start by melting the butter with water on the stovetop, then add the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients. It feels so backwards compared to traditional methods, but it all comes together into an ultra-moist, spongey, and soft cake!
What Can I Use Instead of Molasses?
If you cannot get molasses where you live, you can try substituting honey or dark corn syrup – but the flavor and texture of your Gingerbread Sheet Cake will change.
Be sure to use regular unsulphured molasses (like Grandma’s or Brer Rabbit brands). Don’t use blackstrap molasses, as it has a harsh and bitter flavor.
The Spices
The spices in anything gingerbread or gingerbread-flavored are super important. Check your spices to ensure they’re not expired. Even if they’re not expired, give them a sniff and make sure they’re still very aromatic. Older spices carry less flavor; fresh spices will carry a LOT more flavor. So, just be aware of that and feel free to adjust accordingly, to avoid a bland cake lacking in flavor.
Measure Your Ingredients
Be sure to measure your flour correctly to avoid dry cake. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale, but if you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method.
What if I Don’t Have Buttermilk?
Buttermilk works best in this recipe to provide a rich and tender cake. I would not recommend using a buttermilk substitute. If you must, use whole milk instead – but note the cake’s final taste and texture will be different.
You can learn more about the science of buttermilk in my Buttermilk 101 article here.
What Kind of Pan Should I Use for Sheet Cake?
This recipe was developed for a 10 by 15-inch jelly roll baking pan. I highly recommend a light-colored pan, as opposed to one with a dark nonstick coating, as that will dry out the edges more quickly.
Can I Use a 9 by 13-inch Pan Instead?
We haven’t tried making this Gingerbread Sheet Cake in a 9 by 13-inch pan. Feel free to experiment with this as you wish, but the bake time will be much longer, as your cake will be much thicker.
If you do give this a try, be sure to use a light-colored pan, not a glass or ceramic pan. Learn more about that in my Glass vs. Metal Pans article here.
Can This Cake be Made in a Bundt Pan?
This was designed specifically as a sheet cake. Bundt cakes need to be much sturdier in consistency.
Tips For Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make sure your cream cheese is completely softened to room temperature. This will allow you to make a soft and creamy frosting without any lumps.
- Be sure to use full-fat bricks of high-quality cream cheese. Some generic brands can be watery.
- I love to use vanilla paste in my cream cheese icing for extra vanilla flavor – but you can also use extract.
- The frosting doesn’t need to be super stiff since it’s just going on a flat sheet cake so we don’t need as much powdered sugar, which I personally prefer!
How Many People Does Gingerbread Sheet Cake Serve?
This Gingerbread Sheet Cake yields 20 servings – perfect for any Christmas parties or holiday gatherings!
How to Store Gingerbread Sheet Cake
Gingerbread Sheet Cake can be baked, cooled, covered, and stored at room temperature for 2 days. Once frosted, the cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for a few hours before it needs to be refrigerated. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Gingerbread Sheet Cake
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Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup (118 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the icing:
- 12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste (or extract)
- 2 1/2 cups (313 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 10-by-15-inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan combine the butter, water, and molasses. Over medium-high heat, heat until the butter melts. Bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, remove from heat and add in the flour mixture. Let cool slightly. Add in the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through and the cake springs back when touched. Let cool.
- Cake can be made 2 days ahead of time. Cover and store at room temperature.
Make the icing:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium-high speed until completely smooth. On low speed, gradually add in the sugar and beat until creamy.
- Spread all over cooled cake. Cut into squares and serve.
- Once frosted, the cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for a few hours before it needs to be refrigerated. Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
This post was originally published in 2019 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Great recipe. Made this for a get together, and people raved about it. I upped the ginger to 2 tsp and doubled the clove and nutmeg. Not a very tall cake in that 10×15-in. pan. Icing generously covered the cake. Aside from extra spice, the recipe was scrupulously followed. Keeping this recipe. Thanks!
This was really good, but it wasn’t spicy enough for my taste. Couldn’t really taste the ginger as much as I expected (maybe my ginger was old??). Would probably double the spices the next time. Also, the frosting was a little too sweet. I might change that to a simple vanilla buttercream frosting or just dust with powdered sugar and add a dollop of whipped cream. The cake batter was very thin, I thought I might have done something wrong but it baked up just fine. Cake was moist and had a nice texture.
Hi Kim! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this sheet cake, even if it didn’t have enough spice kick for you! The older spices are, the less flavor they will carry, so we do recommend using newer spices, or adding extra as you like if using older spices. Feel free to experiment with that + alternate frostings, like Tessa’s Best Buttercream Recipe 🙂
This was so easy and so good!! Everyone at worked loved it! My husband who “doesn’t really like cake” even love it too!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi Vanessa! As mentioned in the recipe instructions, this cake can be made up to two days in advance. Let us know what you think once you’ve given this cake a try! Happy baking! 🙂