Nothing says Christmas like the smell of gingerbread baking in the oven! You can enjoy the gingerbread flavor in the form of cookies, coffee, breads, cakes and more! Roll this cake up with some yummy frosting and it’s ready to head to the holiday party!
The Gingerbread Cake:
This gingerbread cake is very simple to make and smells amazing when it is cooking! Most of the ingredients are pretty straightforward, with the exception of the five spice. This is something you might not already have on hand, but is very easy to find in your local grocery store.
Start by mixing your dry ingredients together in a bowl and then set aside. Then beat the eggs until they are fluffy and have about tripled in volume. They will also be a more pale yellow. One thing you will notice throughout the mixing process is how light and airy this batter is.
Once the eggs are done, add in the sugar and again beat until it is light and fluffy. This only takes about 2 minutes. Now you are ready to incorporate the dry ingredients. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and beat only until it’s just about combined. Finish mixing by gently folding with a spatula. You have gone to great lengths to incorporate a lot of air into the batter, so over mixing at this point would deflate it. Just look at all of the bubbles!
Bake:
You’ll want to line your pan with parchment paper and grease/flour it well, because there is nothing worse than baking a cake only to have it stick! The gingerbread cake is fairly thin so it will not bake for very long. The cake is done as soon as it springs back when you touch it. When it comes out of the oven you will need to immediately turn it over onto a clean towel that has been dusted with powdered sugar. Then it gets rolled up into the towel to start the four hour cooling process.
Filling the Gingerbread Cake:
After the cake has completely cooled it is time to fill it! Whip up the frosting, then carefully unroll your cake, removing the towel. When it comes to the filling, you have two options. You can use the entire amount in the cake and dust the outside with powdered sugar. Or you can split the filling between the inside and outside of the roll. Either way, it will be delicious!
Gingerbread Yule Log
Ingredients
Cake:
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- powdered sugar for towel and topping
Marshmallow Cream Cheese Filling/Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 7 oz marshmallow fluff
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Cover an 18x13 half sheet pan with parchment paper, then spray and dust with flour. Set aside
- In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, spices, cornstarch, baking soda and salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high until they have about tripled in volume
- Add sugar and mix for another 1-2 minutes or until thickened
- Add in the flour mixture and mix until just about combined, then finish folding the ingredients together by hand.
- Pour into baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched. Do not over bake!
- Remove from the oven and immediately turn over onto a clean kitchen towel that has been dusted with powdered sugar (to prevent sticking)
- Starting at one end, slowly roll the cake in the towel and tuck in the ends
- Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool for four hours
Frosting:
- Beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until combined and fluffy.
- Add in vanilla and fluff and beat until combined
- Slowly add in powdered sugar and beat on medium low speed well combined.
Assemble:
- Carefully unroll cooled cake and remove towel
- Evenly spread filling over cake
- Carefully roll the cake again over filling
- Dust with powdered sugar
