This Gingerbread Cake (doctored cake mix) recipe is moist, so flavorful, and so EASY to make!
We love this recipe year-round, but I especially crave gingerbread in fall and winter months! The taste is amazing, and when paired with our Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting! (You can find it at the end of our post!)
How to Make Easy Gingerbread Man Cake Toppers!
In the photo above, we added a few fun little gingerbread men toppers! They give our cake a little added height and cuteness.
I used a few Pepperidge Farm Ginger Men cookies to make them. Simply flip them over, pipe a little melted candy melts or chocolate on the back, place a lollipop stick into the chocolate, and pipe a bit more chocolate on top, and chill for 5-10 minutes in the freezer until firm.
Next, I angled my gingerbread men at various angles when gluing on the anchors so that they almost look like they’re dancing! I just love simple decorations!
You can see below that white candy melts probably wasn’t the best choice for a subtle “glue” against the dark gingerbread…maybe I’ll use plain (brown) chocolate candy melts next time! Ha!
I outlined them in buttercream for added cuteness but you can see that I kept things very simple! Anyway, they make me smile. When you’re ready to place them into the cake, the lollipop sticks make great great anchors.
Ta da! Now this is a happy cake!
How Many Cake Layers?
For our gingerbread layer cake pictured above, we made two thick 8 inch cake layers, which we torted into four layers. It would have worked great as a two layer cake also, but we wanted a bit more filling!
Delicious Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Our FAVORITE frosting for gingerbread cakes and all things spiced is our Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting! So simple to whip up in minutes and the flavor is fantastic!
Gingerbread House Cake!
Not only is this a delicious recipe, but it is sturdy enough for fondant as well as light carving. This was the recipe that we used for our Gingerbread House Cake Video Tutorial in our member cake video section.
Scratch Version of Gingerbread Cake
Finally, if you are looking for a fabulous scratch Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe, we have a great one!! You can find it here: Scratch Gingerbread Cake Recipe. We love them both!
Sharing More Holiday Cake Recipes and Tutorials!
Looking for even more Doctored Cake Mix recipes for the holidays? Don’t miss our Doctored Red Velvet Cake recipe or our Doctored Eggnog Cake Recipe! These easy and DELICIOUS recipes are sure to please any crowd!
For a full roundup of our FAVORITE Christmas and winter cakes, don’t miss our Roundup of Christmas Cake Recipes, Tutorials, and Ideas!
We Have More Cake Mix Recipes to Share!
If you love working with doctored cake mix recipes, we’ve made many over the years that we just love! Scroll through this quick list and pick out a few more to try!
Thanks for stopping by! We hope that you enjoy this delicious Gingerbread Doctored Cake Mix Recipe!
Gingerbread Cake ~ A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
This easy and delicious Gingerbread Layer Cake starts with a simple cake mix! This recipe is a fantastic choice for fall and winter gatherings! We love it with our Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting!
Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans (We torted our layers to make 4)
- Do not follow ingredients on the back of the cake mix box, use the ingredients listed below.
- 1 box Spice Cake Mix, sifted
- 1 cup (121g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 (3 g) teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (242 g) sour cream
- 1/2 cup (118 g) water
- 1/2 cup (161g) Molasses,
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- *For our Cake Toppers we used store-bought Gingerbread men and attached them to lollipop sticks with melted candy melts!
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (226g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in microwave)
- 3 (8 ounces) (226g) per package full fat cream cheese, (total 678g) cut into 1 inch pieces and softened.....do not use reduced fat cream cheese or cream in tub containers (do not soften in microwave)
- 3 cups (343g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons (4g) Pumpkin Pie Spice * (we list substitution below)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
Instructions
In the bowl of your mixer combine the dry ingredients and whisk 30 seconds to throughly combine.
To this add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 minute ( a bit longer if using a hand held mixer). Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix 1 minute more.
Makes approximately 7 cups of batter.
Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees. Check at 35 minutes, the cake will be slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center should pull out clean or with only a few crumbs.
For the Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
Put the softened butter in the bowl of your mixer and mix until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin spice. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes (longer if using a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl midway through.
Add the pieces of softened cream cheese to the mixing bowl. The cream cheese should be soft enough that it combines easily into the butter/powdered sugar mixture. Beat on low/medium speed about 1 minute or until the cream cheese is blended in.
Makes 6 cups
Use immediately or refrigerate. If you have beaten too long and it is too soft to pipe, just refrigerate a while and let it firm up.
**No pumpkin spice? You can use 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves. There is some "wiggle room" with this if you prefer a stronger flavor of one spice over another.
Notes
This gingerbread cake recipe is delicious, and works great with the carving necessary for our Gingerbread House Cake Video Tutorial in our member library. I hope that you enjoy it!
Hi Melissa/ Bebe do i need to double this mixture to make the house and the roof or will this amount of batter be fine split between 4 square 6″ tins?
Will black treacle work instead of Molassis?
Hi Victoria, I am not familial with black treacle, but I researched it and see that it shares many of the properties of molasses but is a bit less sweet. Without knowing for sure, I think it should work in this recipe.
For your other question, we made this recipe in four 6 inch square pans to make the gingerbread house cake.
Hi Bebe, thank you for your help I’m going to give it a go ?
Great! Hope all goes well!
One of my layers cracked through the middle when I handled it, any suggestions in rescuing again or should I start again?
Hi Victoria- I’m sorry that your layer cracked! It should still be fine as the bottom layer. The frosting should hold things together . I would put the cracked side down. Good luck!
Hi Melissa thank you for your advice I will see if it holds ?
Have been looking for gingerbread cake mix or good recipe since I purchased mini gingerbread men cake pans. I was happy to find yours and look forward to using it for my holiday open house when I bake many varieties of cookies and cakes for friends.
Hi Janet, We are happy you are going to use the recipe. Have a wonderful party!
Going to try this using gluten free spice cake mix and in a Bundt cake pan. Hope it works since cake mix was so expensive.
Hi Marg, Hope all goes well, let us know how it turns out.
Can I make cupcakes with this recipe?
Hi Anne, It would work well for cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes
Hi Bebe, can I make gingerbread men cookies with this recipe?
Hi Tanisha, I have never tried, but I think the batter is too soft for cookies
Thank you BeBe.
In looking a the recipe and almost having it all done I realized something HUGE was missing. Where is the oil in this recipe?
Hi Diana- there’s no oil in this recipe– it’s much like our white almond sour cream cake (doctored cake mix) recipe. If you’d like to add a little oil to the recipe, it should be fine to do so.
Hi..I noticed there is no oil or butter in the recipe. Was it omitted? How does the cake stay moist esp with the added flour??
Hi Deborah, No, there is no butter or oil added to the recipe. You can add 2 Tablespoons of oil if you like. The recipe is a variation of our White Almond Sour Cream doctored recipe. Hope you enjoy the cake.
How to mix and what temp
How long does it take
Mary
Hi Mary, all of these details are listed in the directions above.
Hi – I made cupcakes with this recipe yesterday. They tasted delicious but they were not fluffy at all and stuck to the cupcakes liners. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Jennifer
Hi, how can I adapt this to make a 6 inch layer cake (what temp and how many layers will it give? thanks
Hi Suzy, This recipe makes 7 cups of batter. We put 2 cups of batter in 6×2 inch round pans. So you will have enough batter for a 3 layer cake……and enough left over for a few cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
This cake was excellent! Great holiday cake! I frosted it was a brown sugar ermine frosting everyone loved it.
I am wondering if this can be made into a Bundt cake?
@Janice- Thanks for sharing, looks great!
@Laura, yes that should be fine! It will just take a little longer to bake.
Hi! What do you think about timing of using a 9×13 pan? I need a gingerbread cake to make a trifle, so I don’t care about presentation, just want it cooked. Thanks for any info or suggestions
Hi Mrs K, For a 9×13 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. At 30 minutes, take a look……when a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, it is done. If you are baking in a dark colored pan or a glass pan, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees and increase the baking time. Hope you will enjoy the cake.
Yes! It took a while longer, but ,it was easy to check. Absolutely delicious. I ate some plain and used the rest in a pumpkin trifle. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe
Hi Mrs, Kelly, Thank you so much for posting your nice review of the recipe!!
I’m happy all went well.
I am going to use this recipe to make cupcakes tomorrow. Is there anything I should do differently?
Hi Charles, Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy the cupcakes!
Hello,
I am excited to try your recipe for our Christmas party, but am wondering if it is totally necessary to add the extra cup of sugar. I don’t like things to sweet and am a little concerned about this. Thank you!
Hi Kylie, The extra cup of sugar is necessary for this recipe. It helps to make the cake tender and adds moisture, without it your cake will seem dry. I don’t think you will find the cake too sweet. Merry Christmas and I hope you love the cake.
Thank you for letting me know BeBe. I will try o remember to leave a review after we enjoy it this Saturday at our party. Merry Christmas!
Can you make a recommendation for a glaze for this cake? I am going to put it in a Bundt cake pan. Thanks!
Hi Lori, I haven’t made a spiced glaze before– Our basic vanilla glaze would be a pretty contrast against the dark gingerbread bundt cake though. You could experiment with adding spices if you’d like- Glad you’re making this cake! Here is a link to the simple vanilla glaze if you’d like to try it: https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/simple-vanilla-glaze/
I loved this recipe so much.
I baked it in a gingerbread man cake pan & decorated it like regular gingerbread man everyone loved it.
Hi Dawn, Thanks so much for posting your review! I happy that everyone loved it!
Where is the Spice zcream Cheese Frosting?
Hi Faye, The link was in the text above the recipe. Link below
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/spiced-cream-cheese-frosting/
This looks amazing, is there no butter or oil going in to the cake? Checked recipe twice
Hi Kendra, This recipe does not have oil or butter. You can add 2 Tablespoon oil but it is fine without it. It is based on our White Almond Sour Cream recipe (doctored recipe).
What size box cake mix? Dunno if this recipe was before all the cake companies changed box sizes :(
Hi Nuala, We used a 16.25 oz. but you could also use 15.25 oz. and it will be fine.
Delicious recipe and is definitely a keeper. I did find it to be a tad sweeter than I want and seemed pretty moist which is a good thing of course but may have been a bit moist for my project. I likely needed to bake another 5 mn even though toothpick test was clean. Was wondering if i could cut the sugar a bit without affecting the recipe too much. This might help with both these issues and by how much would you suggest? Thanks!
I forgot to mention in earlier post that i used the super moist 15.25 oz betty crocker mix. thanks!
Made this for my sister’s Birthday. Following the recipe for cupcakes. Best spice cake recipe. It was delicious, very moist. Half of the cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting, the other half pumpkin spice
Hi Mayumi, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for posting
5* recipe. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. I love my gingersnap cookie recipe so I wanted to try this. It’s a great way to start the fall. I used buttermilk in lieu of water and it was yummy & moist. I used 3 8″ pans and it worked great. The cake was easy to handle and stack just after cooling. I added 1 tsp. maple extract to the frosting and it complimented the ginger cake nicely. I’m excited to try some of your other recipes.
I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for posting!
Can this cake be made a 9×13? How long and what temp?
I made this for a holiday potluck at work today…. I needed a QUICK Plan B (the dog got on our table and ate a big chunk out of the cake I made from scratch). I make the cake and frosting before work, and iced it midday after the cake layers cooled… didn’t have any cookies to decorate with so I used pecans and dried cranberries (chopped). Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Heather! Oh my goodness, so sorry that your dog decided to have a quick taste test of the first cake! So glad that it all worked out for Plan B- your cake looks fabulous!
Thank you! Had to do ‘one more thing’ for the holidays and it involved getting a box of Betty Crocker Gingerbread cake mix– something that is EVERYWHERE at every time of year except at 7am on Christmas eve. Was at my second grocery store and resigned to making the cake from scratch (which is anxiety-inducing for me) or going with my backup dessert (also anxiety-inducing when folks are expecting something) when I had the bright idea to google a hack and this recipe popped up. Bless. Also cheers for the ‘skip to the recipe’ button– when you’re short on time and running on adrenaline it is VERY helpful to be able to get right to what you need. Have a wonderful holiday season!
@Liz- Yay! So happy that you found the recipe- there’s nothing like searching for a plan B at the last minute- we really like this cake- hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas ;0)
Even though it is April in Florida and warm and sunny, we used your cake recipe this weekend to make a birthday cake. It was carved into a dome and it worked perfectly. The taste is incredible….just like Christmas. Thank you for the easy and perfect cake recipe.
Hi Aimee, thank you for your nice review of the recipe. I am so happy all went well and you enjoyed the cake.