Gingerbread Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

I recently volunteered at my son's school to bake a gingerbread cake for their gingerbread party. My good friend and neighbor (who is an amazing baker, BTW) emailed me a recipe for a gingerbread cake that is so good, I had to share with you!

I have never thought to make a gingerbread CAKE. I've heard of gingerbread cookies or gingerbread houses, but not gingerbread cakes. I was intrigued and excited to try it out.

I am already a HUGE fan of spice cakes, so I knew that I was going to enjoy this one.

Unfortunately, I was baking the cake for his class and there wasn't a way for me to secretly take a slice and eat it for myself (although I did get after every little crumb I could find).

I decided to bake this cake again and take it with me to my cousin's house.

We were invited over for dinner and I thought it would be the perfect place for us to debut this festive and unique cake.

Instead of making the Lemon Icing that the recipe calls for, I decided to make a cinnamon buttercream frosting instead.

I mean, cinnamon and gingerbread... that sounded like the dream team of flavor combos to me.

When I baked the cake, I did make a few adjustments.

I divided the batter evenly into two 9 inch rounds instead of putting it all in one pan.

Since I divided them up they only needed to cook for about 37 minutes instead of the 40-45 the recipe calls for.

When the cakes were completely cooled, I cut them in half lengthwise with a serrated knife.

I stacked them and layered them with the cinnamon buttercream frosting.

**Make sure they are completely cooled before spreading on the icing!!

I love the rustic look of a cake when the frosting is overflowing from each layer.

It not only looks gorgeous, but it also has a very inviting and comforting feel.

You can find the recipe here at Joy of Baking.

Note: I omitted the lemon zest that the recipe calls for because I knew I wasn't going the make the Lemon Icing to go with it.

This cake is some serious good eats. My son's class loved it, my family loved it and my cousin and his family loved it. I would say that 3 for 3 ain't bad odds.

So if I was a betting woman, I would bet that if you made it, you would love it, too!

Just saying.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter, room temp

2 tablespoons (or more) cinnamon

1/4 cup-1/2 cup milk

Beat butter with mixer then add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add cinnamon and beat till incorporated. Add milk a few tablespoons at a time until it turns into a frosting.

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

I recently joined Pinterest thanks to a few of my girlfriends telling me about it.

Normally, I'm always out of the loop with anything having to do with social media.

But Pinterest I am loving.

[you can follow me... just click the button ---> ;)]

Anyway, one recipe that I kept seeing over and over again on there was this one for a Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread.

It sounded so good and I'm a HUGE fan of cinnamon, so I couldn't pass it up.

This recipe is one of those that takes a classic recipe and simplifies it just a little.

It tastes like a cinnamon roll but it is baked in a loaf pan and pulls apart when it's all baked and done.

Delicious doesn't even begin to describe this 'bread'.

And really, what's not to love about your house filling with the intoxicating scent of cinnamon.

I had my little pseu chef helping me out this AM.

He loves to help in the kitchen.

Incidentally, he also loves to make a mess in the kitchen.

So, it works out for him.

Me, not so much.

But I do love having him help me out!
There was a ton of sugar and cinnamon to spread around the dough.

And he loved getting right in there and shmearing it all around.

What?

Haven't you ever heard of schmearing?

It's a technical term...

look it up.

The picture above is what this beauty looked like before going into the oven.

And this lovely lady is the 'after' shot. Can't you just SMELL the cinnamon through your screen?

It gets all puffed and delicious and crispy on top...

And gooey and soft and doughy in the middle.

It's this wonderful texture of soft and crunchy.

It is definitely going to be making an appearance at my house on Christmas morning...

and maybe even before that.

It's just too good!

You can find the recipe from Joy the Baker here.