This Gingerbread Loaf Cake has a gingerbread sponge, ginger buttercream and is topped with gingerbread men and some festive sprinkles.
So, I thought it was about time I started posting Christmas recipes and what is better than a Gingerbread loaf cake? Gingerbread is such a classic Christmas flavour I couldn’t resist.
Jump to Recipe
Gingerbread Loaf Cake
To make this load cake I used a 2lb loaf tin, I find it makes the perfect sized loaf cake. As with all my cake recipes, the base of this loaf cake is pretty quick and simple to make.
I started by creaming together the butter and sugar. For the loaf cake recipe, you can use either unsalted butter or a baking spread like Stork, for the buttercream you need to use unsalted butter, but we will get to that.
I also used light brown sugar rather than caster sugar. I find it gives the sponge a slight hint of caramel flavouring which works perfectly with the gingerbread-flavoured loaf.
This recipe will still work perfectly well with caster sugar if you want to use this instead.
Related Recipes
Gingerbread Millionaire Shortbread
I use 200g of the main ingredients; sugar, flour and butter. When working out the number of eggs I use 1 large egg for every 50g of sugar. As this recipe has 200g of sugar I used four eggs.
Add in the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix until they are fully incorporated.
Pour the mixture into your loaf tin. You can line and grease your tin with butter and baking parchment, or you can use a loaf liner.
There are a few ways to test whether or not the loaf cake is baked. The first is by using a cake tester or skewer to test the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean, then the cake is ready. If there is cake batter on it pop it back into the oven for 3-4 minutes and repeat.
Another way to test the loaf cake is by gently pressing on the top of the loaf cake. It is ready if it springs to its original shape when you remove your finger. If you end up with a finger-shaped dent in the top of your cake (don’t worry, we will hide it with buttercream) then it’s not quite ready yet. Pop it back into the oven for 3-4 minutes and repeat.
Ginger Buttercream
So, as I mentioned above for the buttercream you MUST use unsalted butter. The type that comes wrapped in foil normally in 250g blocks. You can’t use a baking spread like Stork as it is too soft and when you try and pipe the buttercream onto your loaf cake it will just run off, it won’t hold its own shape.
Add the butter, sugar and ginger to a large bowl and mix together until it is thick and creamy.
If you find the buttercream is too thick, add in a tablespoon of milk or boiling water and mix again. Repeat until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
The perfect consistency of buttercream is, you want it to be thick enough to hold its own shape when you pipe it but not too thick that you can’t get it back out of the piping bag. After beating all the ingredients together in my mixer, I take my spatula and give it a quick mix by hand.
That way I can get a feel for how thick the buttercream is. If you scoop some of the buttercream up on your spoon or spatula it shouldn’t fall off when you turn the spatula upside down but if you give the spatula or spoon a little shake, then the buttercream will then fall back into the bowl.
I used a 1M Piping Tip and these piping bags to pipe the buttercream onto the top of the cake.
I always pipe horizontal lines on the top of the loaf cake and then go back over the top so it has two layers of buttercream, but you can pipe or spread the buttercream on however you fancy.
To finish this Gingerbread Loaf Cake off, I obviously had to add on some gingerbread men and some festive sprinkles.
Alternatives
You don’t need to use ginger buttercream you could use traditional vanilla buttercream if you fancy. Just leave out the ground ginger.
Equipment
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy any of these products. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting A Spoonful of Vanilla.
Pin it For Later!
If you do have any questions about this Gingerbread Loaf Cake or any other recipes on my blog you can contact me either by sending me a DM on social media or an email. You can find all my details on the left-hand side of this page.
Gingerbread Loaf Cake
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Loaf Cake
- 200 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
- 200 g Light Brown Suagr
- 200 g Self-Raising Flour
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 tsp Ground Ginger
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
For the Ginger Buttercream
- 200 g Unsalted Butter
- 400 g Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 3-4 tbsp Whole Milk (optional)
For the Decoration
- Gingerbread Men
- Festive Sprinkles
Instructions
To Make the Gingerbread Loaf Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan) and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Leave to one side.
- In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until completely combined.
- Pour the mixture into your loaf tin and bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes.
- Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool.
To Make the Buttercream and Decorate
- Add the butter, icing sugar and ginger to a large bowl and mix until completely combined.
- If the mixture is too thick add a teaspoon of milk and mix again. Repeat until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the top of the loaf cake.
- Add the gingerbread men and sprinkles to the top.
Notes
- This loaf cake will last 3+ days in an airtight container.
This looks incredible, I love making loaf cakes! The mini gingerbread men are adorable too x
Thank you so much!