Gingerbread Spice Cake

 Mrs. Claus loves this cake and likes to share with Santa right after he takes off his work boots from tending the reindeer.

Ingredients

For the cake

• ▢½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢½ cup white granulated sugar
• ▢2 large eggs
• ▢1 cup molasses
• ▢1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ▢1 tsp cinnamon
• ▢1 ½ tsp ground ginger
• ▢½ tsp ground cloves
• ▢½ tsp kosher salt
• ▢1 cup brewed coffee

For the frosting

• ▢8 oz cream cheese room temperature
• ▢2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢1 ¼ cups powdered sugar sifted
• ▢¼ tsp kosher salt
• ▢1-2 tbsp cognac (optional) (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Instructions 

For the cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9 baking dish with butter or nonstick spray and set it aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition to evenly incorporate. Once the eggs are added, beat in the molasses and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.
• Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. At a low speed, beat slowly while adding the brewed coffee in a steady stream. Once all the coffee and dry ingredients are incorporated, fold the batter a few times by hand to ensure everything is evenly mixed.
• Pour the prepared batter into the baking dish and bake in the preheated 350°F oven until the cake is domed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, 40-50 minutes. Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool for 2 hours before frosting. Once the cake is cooled, frost and serve.

For the frosting

• In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until it is soft and smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add the cognac (or vanilla extract), powdered sugar, and salt. Beat it slowly until the powdered sugar is incorporated and smooth.

Notes

• Allow the butter and sugar to cream for a full three to five minutes. Allowing the mixture to work in air over this amount of time will create a lighter and fluffier mixture that will lead to a better cake once baked.
• While some recipes would have you alternately add the dry ingredients and the brewed coffee to the wet ingredients, this recipe simply combines them all and mixes everything. It worked for my grandma, and it’ll work for us too!
• To keep the cake’s density light, do not overmix it with the hand mixer. Mix the brewed coffee and dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, then finish mixing with a spatula or spoon. This controls the amount of air that’s worked into the cake and results in the perfect texture.
• For this recipe’s butter and cream cheese, make sure they are all at room temperature. This will ensure that they cream together when mixed. Simply set the butter and cream cheese out on the counter about 30 minutes to an hour before preparing the cake.
• Make sure that the cake is fully cool before adding any of the frosting to the top. If there is any warmth to the cake, it will cause the cream cheese frosting to melt, which will thin it out and cause it to weep.