Gingerbread Latte Sheet Cake
Spiced gingerbread sheet cake that's extra soft and moist, frosted with coffee buttercream to mimic a gingerbread latte in cake form.
Servings 24 slices
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 9x13 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
DIY Buttermilk recipe: add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to a jar and top it with 1 Cup of whole milk. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes before using in the recipe.
Make Ahead Tips:
- 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.