Celebrate the holidays with this gorgeous Christmas village Gingerbread Spice Cake!
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Jump to RecipeI LOVE CHRISTMAS!
Christmas is 100% my favourite time of the year. The crazy hussle bustle mixed with laughs with good friends. Loud dinner parties and bundling up next to the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. The anticipation and wonder creates magic in the air.
Of course there is also the chance to dream up a beautiful Christmas dessert.
I bring you this gorgeous Christmas Gingerbread Spice Cake that is just as delicious as it is pretty. The adorable gingerbread village brings warmth to a Christmas party and finishes off the meal with a dessert loaded with winter spices and joy.
I hope you love this Christmas Gingerbread Spice Cake!
How do you make a gingerbread cake?
This Christmas Gingerbread Spice Cake has a few steps but each are quite simple. You start with the gingerbread houses then bake the cakes. Ice the cakes with your frosting of choice, stack the cakes, then apply the gingerbread houses and decorate with extra ‘snow’ frosting. Top this beauty with a fondant Christmas tree or any other cake topper of choice.
Gingerbread Houses
The gingerbread dough is made with butter, molasses, brown sugar, flour, baking soda and powder, vanilla, an egg and some spices. Refrigerate for an hour and then it’s time to make some cute gingerbread houses!
Pre heat your oven and cut two pieces of parchment that are the same size as a couple of baking sheets. Place one piece of parchment on your counter and lightly dust with flour. Place 1/4 of the dough onto the parchment and roll the dough out until it covers the parchment and is about 1/4″ thick.
I like to use my fondant tools to cut out the houses into different shapes. Cut out three houses, leaving room in between each house so there is room for the houses to spread while baking.
Once the three houses have been created, slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and bake the houses in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool before transferring to a cooling rack.
Meanwhile, start on three more houses with the second set of parchment and baking sheet. Keep making houses and baking until all of the gingerbread dough is used up.
Decorate the windows and doors with frosting right before the cake gets assembled.
Spice Cake
The spice cake is made up of flour, baking powder, spices, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk. It’s a quick and easy batter which is then divided into 3 x 9″ cake pans and 3 x 6″ cake pans.
After the cakes have been baked and cooled, the tops can be evenly sliced off and wrapped tightly in plastic if you plan on making it at a later date.
Frosting
I like to make my frosting of choice right before I assemble the cake to keep it as fresh as possible. Depending on which type you choose, it can be made in advance.
Assemble the cake
The best tool ever for building cakes? A lazy susan!
Apply a dab of frosting into the middle of a lazy susan then place a cake board that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the 9″ cake. Place a dab of frosting on the cake board then lay down a 9″ cake evenly on the cake board. Build the cake with layers of frosting and cake until all three 9″ layers have been assembled.
Apply a crumb coat to the entire cake and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Ice the cake with a nice thick layer so that the cake cannot be seen through the white icing. Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.
Remove the cake from the lazy susan and place on the cake plate you would like to serve the cake on.
Now build the top layer with the 6″ cakes just like you did with the 9″ cake. After the last layer of icing has been applied and chilled, remove from the lazy susan and place right in the center of the 9″ cake.
Attach the gingerbread houses to the cake with extra icing.
Top with a cake topper of choice.
Merry Christmas!
How far in advance can this Christmas Gingerbread Spice Cake be made?
This cake would be a huge endevour if made all in one day.
Gingerbread lasts for weeks so the houses can be made 2-3 weeks in advance.
Spice cake can be baked, tightly wrapped in plastic once cooled and left on the counter for a couple of days before the cake gets assembled. It can also be forzen! After the cake it cooled to room temperatre, evenly slice the tops off, wrap in plastic then tin foil and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight before assembling the cake.
Fondant takes a long time to set so it’s a good idea to make this a couple of weeks before you need it.
When it comes to the assembly, I recommend building the cake the day before you plan on serving, but would be fine if built two days before.
Frosting Options
There are a few different options for frosting, it is totally up to what you want. A vanilla buttercream would be an excellent choice or an old fashioned sour cream frosting.
My favourite? Cream cheese frosting!
I like to use this cream cheese frosting from …….. that is great for piping. You’ll want a nice thick frosting for this cake to pipe windows and doors on the gingerbread houses.
Fondant Christmas Tree
So cute right?? Time consuming, but cute! I had my four year old help me out with this fondant Christmas tree one afternoon a couple of weeks before Christmas when we had an afternoon free and felt like doing something Christmasy.
Dye white fondant with green gel food colouring until the desired colour has been achieved. I like to use wilton fondant for building items like this because I find it holds it’s shape super well and it easy to work with.
Shape a cone from some of the fondant and set aside.
Roll out the remaining fondant and start cutting flower shapes. Use the bottom end of a piping tip to remove a circle from the center then cut the flower shape in half.
Attach each half to the cone starting from the bottom and working your way all the way around and then all the way up. To attach the leaves to the cone, I like to melt a little bit of fondant with some water in a microwave and mix until all the lumps are gone. A bit of the mixture can be painted on to attach the pieces together. It acts like glue!
Once you reach the top smaller flower cutouts can be used. Top the tree with a yellow fondant star if you wish or any other tree topper of choice.
Use little bits of rolled up tin foil un between the leaves so that the leaves lift up a bit to give the tree a fuller look. Allow the fondant tree to dry for a couple of weeks.
Tips and Tricks
Love this Christmas recipe? Try these next:
Christmas Chex Mix
Gingerbread Crust Cheesecake
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Christmas Gingerbread Spice Cake
Ingredients
Gingerbread Houses
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Spice Cake
- 1.3/4 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 2.1/4 cup white sugar
- 1.1/2 cups brown sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 5.1/4 cup flour
- 2.1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2.1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2.1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2.1/2 cup buttermilk
Extras
- white frosting
- cake topper
Optional – Simple Syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Stand Mixer
- 2 x Baking Sheets with Parchment Paper
- Rolling Pin
- Fondant Tools
- Cooling Rack
- Large Bowl
- 6″ Cake Pans
- 9″ Cake Pans
- Cake Leveller
- Cake Boards (or cardboard and tin foil)
- Piping Bag and an Assortment of Tips
- Lazy Susan
- Cake Plate
Directions
Gingerbread Houses
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the molasses, egg and vanilla, scraping the bowl in between each addition.
- Mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder until well combined and stir into the butter mixture.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Heat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Take one of the sheets, spread it out on the counter and dust with flour. Take about 1/4 of the dough and set into the middle of the parchment. Sprinkle some flour over the dough and roll out until it is 1/4″ thick.
- Time to design some houses!
- Using the fondant tools, cut three houses from the dough, You can make them different shapes and sizes or all the same, whatever you like. Once finished, bake for about 5 minutes, then cool completely on cooling racks.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Once the cookies have all cooled, wrap in plastic and store up to 3 weeks at room temperature.
Spice Cake
- Heat oven to 350° and grease and flour 3 x 9″ and 3 x 6″ cake pans. (if you don’t have three of each you can just bake in batches)
- Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, whip butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl then add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, scraping the bowl in between each addition.
- In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice until fully combined. Add to the butter mix alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour.
- Add 2.1/2 cups batter to each 9″ cake pan and 1.1/4 cups batter to each 6″ cake pan. Bake for 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Once the cakes are fully baked, let rest for 5 minutes then flip out onto cooling rack and cool to room temperature. Slice the top off of each cake using an even hand or a cake leveller, then wrap tightly in plastic and leave at room temperature for a a day or two or freeze for up to 3 months.
Prep the Cake Assembly
- Make a large batch of whatever flavour of white frosting you choose; suggestions in post above.
- Cut out 1 x cake board just shy of 9″ and another just shy of 6″. If you don’t have cake boards, cut circles from cardboard and cover in tin foil.
- Make the simple syrup for an extra boost for flavour and moistness. Combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer just until the sugar has completely dissolved then set aside to cool.
- Lay the gingerbread houses out on the counter or cooling racks and pipe windows, doors or other designs onto each house, using the prepared white frosting.
- You’re ready to build the cake!
Cake Assembly
- Sprinkle 4 tsp simple syrup evenly over each 9″ cake and 1 tbsp evenly over each 6″ cake.
- Spread a small dab of frosting in the middle of the lazy Susan and center the larger cake board. Apply another dab of frosting and place one 9″ cake on top. Cover the cake with frosting and place a second cake. Repeat until you have all three cakes staked.
- Time to crumb coat! Cover the entire cake in frosting using an icing spatula. Be careful not to double dip your icing spatula to ensure no crumbs get into your bowl of frosting. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set.
- Apply a thick layer of frosting to the entire cake, this time use icing / smoother tools for a cleaner look. Refrigerate for 10 minutes then transfer the cake to your desired cake plate. Refrigerate and clean the lazy Susan for the top layer.
- Repeat for the 6″ cake, transferring to to center of the 9″ cake after the second layer of frosting is nice and firm.
- Attach the houses with extra frosting and fill in the gaps with frosting as well. I like the look of ‘snow’ on the roofs and the cake topper can be added as well!
- Merry Christmas!