This spiced gingerbread bundt cake is everything that the holidays promise: soft cake texture, spiced ginger flavor, and a touch of orange. The gingerbread bundt cake recipe is simple to make and comes together in less than 20 minutes. You’ll be left with all the time you need to enjoy the perfect holiday cake for any family celebration.
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Why Is Gingerbread Bundt Cake a Great Holiday Recipe?
Gingerbread is itself a Christmas tradition and has spawned an infinite number of gingerbread houses in family homes everywhere. Unlike gingersnaps, gingerbread tends toward being soft and cake-like, so baking a gingerbread cake makes perfect sense, texture-wise.
This gingerbread bundt cake sparks even more holiday cheer, because it is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. The bright winter orange flavor that is found in so many wintery recipes is also present here, with some orange juice and orange zest. Orange and ginger are like a match made in holiday heaven!
This bundt cake is a snap to make, because this is a simple cake recipe that doesn’t taste simple. Add a little white icing and some powdered snow (sugar), and you’ll have yourself a spiced gingerbread bundt cake with a hint of orange. All you need is a good bundt pan and you’ll ensure a non-stick bake every time. Also if you enjoy making bundt cakes, do try this light and refreshing peach bundt cake recipe.
Gingerbread Bundt Cake
🥘Ingredients
For Bundt Cake
- all-purpose flour
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- ground allspice
- salt
- baking soda
- baking powder
- unsalted butter
- dark brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- orange zest
- eggs
- molasses
- orange juice + water
For White Icing Glaze
- confectioners sugar
- heavy cream
- vanilla extract
🔪How to Make Gingerbread Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven and grease the bundt pan.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar.
- Add the eggs, followed by the vanilla extract, orange zest, and molasses.
- Add the flour mixture and orange juice, alternatively.
- Add the batter to the bundt pan and bake for 55 minutes.
- Allow the gingerbread bundt cake to cool completely.
- Whisk the ingredients to make the icing and use to decorate the cake.
💭Tips and Tricks
- Don’t skimp on greasing the bundt pan. You will thank yourself when your cake comes out without half of it staying in the pan!
- When adding in the wet ingredients, make sure that each ingredient is incorporated before adding the next, like eggs, zest/juice, vanilla extract, and molasses. Scraping down the sides will also help keep everything mixing successfully.
- A great way to coax your bundt cake out of the tin after baking is to let it cool in the bundt pan for 10 minutes. Then, gently flip it upside down so it sits on the wire rack. Leave it there until it cools completely. The bundt pan should easily slip out.
- If you love Bundt cakes as much as we do then you might want to try a few of our other favorites, like this Halloween themed bundt cake or another festive one is this peppermint bundt cake recipe. It's all about the bundt!
FAQs
What is the difference between gingerbread and ginger cake?
Depending on where you come from, gingerbread can either be soft and cake-like or more crisp. People tend to refer to gingerbread as ginger cake, and the harder type of gingerbread as gingersnaps. There are still similarities between the two, including the use of brown sugar and the tendency to add ginger (obviously), and other holiday spices.
How much baking soda should you put in a gingerbread bundt cake?
This gingerbread cake recipe uses only ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Baking soda is an important ingredient in any cake as a leavening agent, but this bundt cake doesn’t need a huge rise, so the ¼ teaspoon is just enough to allow for a rise and keep the cake light and airy.
What spices go into a gingerbread bundt cake?
Typically, ground ginger is the number one spice (hence the name), but adding classic spiced additions such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and/or cardamom can all work. All can be adjusted to taste, using more cinnamon or less clove and you can have fun finding your unique cake spice blend for your gingerbread bundt cake.
How do you make a glaze for gingerbread bundt cake?
This bundt cake has a basic icing made from confectioners sugar, heavy cream, and a dash of vanilla. The nicest part is that you can easily add a little more confectioners sugar to thicken the icing up or add in a little more heavy cream to thin it out to the desired consistency.
How do you store a gingerbread bundt cake?
Unlike a lot of baked goods, gingerbread grows more flavorful after a day or two, so the ingredients and spices can meld properly. You can store your gingerbread bundt cake in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator or in the freezer for 1-2 months. This way, you can do all your holiday baking early and relax when it comes time to get festive.
Gingerbread Bundt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For bundt cake
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup orange juice + ½ cup water
For white icing glaze
- ½ cup confectioners sugar
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For bundt cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray or canola oil.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until creamy, for about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to be incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla extract, orange zest, and molasses until incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture and orange juice alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Add the batter to the greased bundt pan and smooth out the top to make sure the level is even.
- Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the bundt cake cool in the pan. After 10 minutes, you can turn the bundt pan over onto the rack and let cool completely. Hope upon hope, and remove the bundt pan!
For icing
- Whisk the confectioners sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract together until desired consistency. Add more sugar or heavy cream if you want to thicken or thin it out.
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