This high altitude gingerbread bundt cake is dark, spicy, moist and dense, and looks so fancy decorated with vanilla buttercream. Make this beautiful holiday cake for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
You might also love these iced chocolate gingerbread cookies, maple gingerbread bars, and gingerbread cupcakes.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Quick and Easy. The cake batter is easy to make with just a bowl and whisk, no mixer needed. And if you don’t want to use a mixer to make buttercream, you can drizzle the cake with a simple vanilla icing or glaze instead.
Perfect for Christmas. With the warm cozy spices, dark brown sugar and snowflakes, this is a perfect holiday recipe.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. All-purpose flour gives the cake strength and structure.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent to make the cake rise.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and cardamom adds warm and a subtle spiciness. Espresso powder, too, adds a subtle coffee flavor, and deepens the color of the cake.
- Buttermilk. The fat and acidity makes the cake soft, tender and moist. I rarely keep buttermilk on hand, so the combination of the whole milk and apple cider vinegar accomplishes the same task.
- Dark Brown Sugar. The molasses in the dark brown sugar gives the cake a classic gingerbread flavor, as well as keeps the cake moist and sweet.
- Eggs. Strengthens the cake batter and adds richness.
- Butter + Oil. A combination of melted butter and vegetable oil adds flavor and moisture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Molasses. For a darker color and richer flavor, use a dark molasses, such as blackstrap. Light or “original” molasses also works just fine.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Thoroughly grease a 10 cup bundt pan, such as the “Jubilee” bundt pan, with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, spices and espresso powder, then whisk until well combined.
- Separately, whisk together the milk, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, melted butter, oil and vanilla.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined and mostly smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Remove the pan and let the cake cool completely before decorating with buttercream.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand held electric mixer), beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy.
Decorating
- Fit a 16-inch disposable piping bag with a coupler and tip #32 (small star tip). Fill half full with the buttercream.
- Set the cooled cake on a serving plate or cake pedestal.
- Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe “shells” along the diagonal ridges of the cake, as shown in the photos. Complete the bottom row before moving up the sides of the cake to the next row. Finish with a shell border around the base of the cake.
Recipe Variations
Vanilla Icing or Glaze
A vanilla icing or glaze is simple to whisk together in a bowl, and can be poured over the cake while it’s still slightly warm. Get the icing recipe here, in this post for donut bundt cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Gingerbread bundt cake is fantastic with cream cheese frosting. Get the frosting recipe here, in this post for red velvet bundt cake.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
You won’t have enough batter to fill a 12-cup bundt pan, so you would need to scale the recipe up 33% (multiply the ingredient quantities by 1.3333).
I used my Nordic Ware “Jubilee” bundt pan, which as a 10-cup capacity. I love the shape of this pan, and it’s ideal for decorating with the diagonal piped buttercream.
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
If you want to bake the cake in advance and freeze it, wrap the unfrosted cake in several layers of plastic wrap while it’s slightly warm. Freeze for up to 3-6 months. Thaw completely before frosting or decorating.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Gingerbread Bundt Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp (scant) baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 ½ tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee, optional
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3 tbsp light or dark molasses
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp meringue powder, optional
- pinch salt
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Thoroughly grease a 10 cup bundt pan, such as the "Jubilee" bundt pan, with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, spices and espresso powder, then whisk until well combined.
- Separately, whisk together the milk, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, eggs, melted butter, oil and vanilla.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined and mostly smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake for about 40-45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. Remove the pan and let the cake cool completely before decorating with buttercream.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand held electric mixer), beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy.
Decorating
- Fit a 16-inch disposable piping bag with a coupler and tip #32 (small star tip). Fill half full with the buttercream.
- Set the cooled cake on a serving plate or cake pedestal.
- Starting at the bottom of the cake, pipe "shells" along the diagonal ridges of the cake, as shown in the photos. Complete the bottom row before moving up the sides of the cake to the next row. Finish with a shell border around the base of the cake.
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