Frosted Gingerbread Pound Cake Recipe
Get all of the delicious flavors of gingerbread in our fantastic frosted gingerbread pound cake, a perfect holiday dessert recipe.
Serving8 slices
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- zest from ½ orange, optional
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½-2 cups powdered sugar
- Chopped peppermint pieces or chopped nuts, optional topping
Instructions
Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy (I used a stand mixer and mixed it for about 2 minutes. You can use an electric mixer or even do it by hand). Add in the vanilla, egg, applesauce, and orange zest (if using).
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined (do not overmix!).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it around evenly with a spatula or back of a spoon.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake.
- Place loaf on a wire rack and let it cool for about 20 minutes, then turn the loaf cake onto the wired rack and let it finish cooling.
Frosting
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and vanilla extract together using an electric mixer. Slowly add in the powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency you like (if it's too thick, you can think it out with some milk) and it's smooth and easily spreadable.
- Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and top with chopped up peppermint pieces or your favorite chopped nuts.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- We love topping this pound cake with some chopped peppermint candy pieces, but that is not the only option. You can also top this cake with the following: chopped almonds, chopped peanuts, chopped pecans, chopped hazelnuts, brown sugar cinnamon drizzle, or a sprinkle of cinnamon.
- One of the things I love about this recipe is that it uses applesauce instead of an oil. Not only does it make this recipe on the healthier side, but it also has some great added flavor. If you want to know more way to use applesauce in recipes, Insanely Good has a great list of easy recipes that uses applesauce.
- Optional toppings not included in nutritional information.
Nutrition
Calories: 427 kcal · Carbohydrates: 71 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 15 g · Saturated Fat: 9 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Trans Fat: 0.5 g · Cholesterol: 59 mg · Sodium: 580 mg · Potassium: 108 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 51 g · Vitamin A: 473 IU · Vitamin C: 0.3 mg · Calcium: 40 mg · Iron: 1 mg