Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake Recipe (A Favorite Christmas Recipe)

Recently, I have been feeling nostalgic for dark gingerbread. When she was alive, my “Big Ma” (close elderly family friend/like a southern grandmother) made the best gingerbread cake recipe ever.

Easy Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake with Caramel Sauce Recipe

I asked my Facebook friends if any of them had a great recipe. Of course, my friend Mike Petti had a dark molasses one. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked at a variety of fine NYC restaurants and hotels.

Mike sent me a recipe, but it was a little too fancy for me. We went back and forth a couple of times in order to simplify it. “Can I use this instead of that?” is one of my favorite questions so that we moms can pick up everything in one grocery store visit. I also added caramel…because (almost) everything tastes better with caramel on top!

The gingerbread cake recipe came out great. My five-year-old son Sean wanted to eat it for dessert every day for a week! I will admit that it does not live up to my Big Ma’s gingerbread standard, but then again neither does any other gingerbread that I have tasted in the last 35+ years. Oh well, this is the next best thing/my current favorite.

Gingerbread Cake Recipe

Recipe Variations

*Add one teaspoon of grated orange peel.

*Exchange 1 tablespoon of chopped crystallized ginger for one and a half of the three teaspoons of ground ginger.

*Exchange one cup of buttermilk for the cup of heavy cream.

*For a milder ginger flavor, only use two teaspoons of ginger instead of three.

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{This post has been updated and republished. It was originally posted on 12/22/12.}