Tis’ the season of irresistibly festive coffee flavors and if you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I love translating those flavors into cake form (see also: my Peppermint Mocha Cake, and Hot Cocoa Cake recipes). A few holiday seasons ago, I made this Gingerbread Latte Layer Cake recipe and loved the flavor combination so much that I decided to make a sheet cake variation that’s even easier to decorate and perfect for feeding a crowd! Whether you’re hosting a holiday party or have been asked to bring dessert to an event, this festive sheet cake is the perfect thing.
Moist & Fluffy Gingerbread Cake
This cake starts with a stick-to-your-fork moist and fluffy gingerbread cake that is packed with flavor. Between the spices, the brown sugar, and the sticky sweet molasses, this Gingerbread Cake tastes like the real deal and will have your whole house smelling like holiday cheer. I did a lot of recipe testing to get the texture and flavor just right and learned that there are a few key ingredients that make it perfect:
- All-Purpose Flour (or Plain Flour). Normally I’m a big fan of cake flour in my recipes just because it yields such a light, fluffy texture. This cake is actually best with all-purpose flour though, as it’s strong enough to give structure and lift to this cake to combat the heaviness of molasses.
- Brown sugar. Adding this in with the granulated sugar gives this cake more moisture and softness while enhancing the gingerbread flavor.
- Molasses. This is the key ingredient in gingerbread cookies. It gives this cake the perfect flavor and tons of moisture.
- Spices. I used the main spices you’d find in gingerbread to really up the flavor profile: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Buttermilk. Using buttermilk will give you the most delicate crumb while providing tons of moisture. If you can’t find full-fat buttermilk at your local grocery store, I have a DIY recipe for buttermilk that uses whole milk + white vinegar or lemon juice in the notes section of the recipe below.
Rich Coffee Buttercream
Frosting the spiced gingerbread cake with coffee buttercream makes it taste just like a gingerbread latte in cake form. That’s one of my favorite holiday coffee orders so I was in heaven eating all the cake scraps. The coffee buttercream is so easy to whip up and uses instant coffee (espresso powder works fine too!) mixed with milk to add flavor. It’s so silky smooth and perfect for filling, frosting, and piping.
How to Decorate a Gingerbread Latte Sheet Cake
The best thing about sheet cakes is how easy they are to decorate. You can frost the cake with a rustic finish and add some festive sprinkles. Or, you could get more detailed with your decorations like I did (I promise it’s easier than it looks!). If you want to replicate the design of my gingerbread latte sheet cake, here’s what to do:
Frost the cake with a smooth layer of coffee buttercream, then mark out different sections for piping. Then, pipe and decorate one section at a time.
I started at the top edge with a braided border using Wilton Tip 4B, then piped a shell border with Wilton Tip 4B below with enough room in between to add a row of sprinkles. Pro tip: the easiest way to add those sprinkles in between is to add the sprinkles into a piping bag, cut off an opening, then let them spill out of the piping bag while you drag it across the space you’re trying to fill.
Next, I piped a smaller braided border with Wilton Tip 32 and added coffee beans in between that and the shell border. Then, I used Wilton Tip 32 to pipe a row of swirls and added gingerbread man sprinkles in between that and the small braided border above it. Finally, I piped another row of swirls with Wilton Tip 32, filled the space in between with more sprinkles, and repeated the decorating in reverse order.
Feel free to get completely creative with the way you decorate your gingerbread latte sheet cake! However you decorate, I hope it’s a hit with everyone at your next holiday gathering!
Gingerbread Latte Sheet Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Gingerbread Sheet Cake
- 1 3/4 Cups (232g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2/3 Cup (150g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 Cup (70g) packed brown sugar light or dark
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) molasses
- 2/3 Cup (160ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
Coffee Buttercream
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee or instant espresso powder
- 2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Additional Garnishes (optional)
- 1/2 Cup Christmas sprinkles
- 18 coffee beans
- 10 gingerbread man sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Gingerbread Sheet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9×13 inch baking pan by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting the bottom with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pan.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter on medium-high for two minutes. Add in the white and brown sugars and cream on medium-high for another two minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and molasses, turn the mixer to high, and beat for one full minute.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. Batter will be thick, but pourable.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 28-32 minutes, until it springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool to room temperature before applying any frosting.
Make the Coffee Buttercream
- Combine the instant coffee powder (or espresso powder) with the whole milk and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on med-high until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), scraping down the bowl and paddle a few times in between.
- Add powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle between intervals. Then add the vanilla, the coffee/espresso milk mixture, and salt. Mix on low until fully incorporated, about one minute.
Assembly
- Once the gingerbread cake is cooled to room temperature, frost the top with coffee buttercream. To create the look pictured, use an icing smoother to create a smooth finish, then divide the rest of the coffee buttercream into 2 different piping bags, one fitted with Wilton Tip 4B and the other fitted with Wilton Tip 32.
- Mark out 9 different sections on your gingerbread cake. I started in the very middle to mark the first section, which is about 1 inch wide. From there, it was easy to space and mark out four more sections on either side of that center section. For reference, see the photo in the blog post above that labels the different sections of this sheet cake design.
- Starting in the very first section at the top pipe a line of braided buttercream using Wilton Tip 4B. Using that same piping tip, pipe a shell border below the braided buttercream with a gap in between. Add the Christmas sprinkles into a piping bag and snip off the end, then use it to fill in the gap between those two sections you piped.
- Using Wilton Tip 32, pipe another row of braided buttercream beneath the shell border, leaving about an inch of space in between. Arrange 9 of the coffee beans in that space, then pipe a row of swirls beneath using Wilton Tip 32, leaving another inch of space between the swirls and the smaller braided border. Fill in that gap in between with gingerbread man sprinkles.
- Pipe another row of buttercream swirls underneath the first one using Wilton Tip 32, leaving about 1 inch of space in between. Fill in that space with more Christmas sprinkles, then repeat the piping and decorating in reverse order until you reach the other end of the sheet cake.
Notes
- The Gingerbread Sheet Cake can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
- The Coffee Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip in your stand mixer to bring back to smooth buttercream consistency.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments below, or by tagging me on Instagram! I love to see your creations and hear your feedback.
Molasses seems quite strong tasting, will it overpower the gingerbread? Can I substitute golden syrup? I usually put golden syrup in my gingerbread.
Hi Clare! I haven’t tried this recipe with golden syrup, so I can’t say how it will go. Molasses is a key ingredient in gingerbread recipes (here in the US at least) and I find the flavor to be amazing with this recipe!