A history gingerbread cake recipe, adapted for today.
This classic gingerbread layer cake recipe from George Washington’s mother stands the test of time. It is moist, spicy, easy, and perfectly sweet from brown sugar and molasses.
Meet This Easy Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe
Gingerbread makes everything feel — and smell — festive, especially around the holidays. The warm aroma of baking spices and molasses wafting from the oven means that a great dessert is on the way. And making it into a gingerbread layer cake adds a special “wow” factor you just can’t get from a loaf pan.
This historic gingerbread layer cake recipe from George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, stands the test of time. It is moist, spicy, and perfectly sweet from brown sugar and molasses.
The History of Martha Washington’s Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe
Few cakes have as legendary a backstory. According to American Cake, George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington, served this gingerbread cake to her many guests, including the Marquis de Lafayette in the late 1780s. (The other name for this is Lafayette gingerbread.)
George Washington’s sister, Betty, served the gingerbread cake as well, from her Kenmore Plantation in Virginia. The recipe was then lost to time until the 1920s. While sorting through boxes in the attic, members of the Kenmore Association and the Daughters of the American Revolution discovered the handwritten recipe in a diary.
But this history cannot be complete without acknowledging that both Mary Ball Washington and Betty Washington Lewis were both slaveowners. Thus, we can assume that enslaved people likely baked this cake, and not exclusively the Washington women themselves. (Editor’s note: I tried doing additional research on this point, and contacted historians at Mt. Vernon for further information on this, but was unsuccessful.)
How to Make This Moist Gingerbread Cake
The steps to making this festive holiday layer cake are fairly straightforward:
- Grease two 8″ cake pans and preheat the oven to 350°F. Set the raisins to soften in a bowl of warm water.
- Cream together the butter, light brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, orange zest, and salt. Add the eggs and whip until fluffy and light.
- Fold in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, brandy or coffee, milk, and juice of half the orange. Mix until smooth. Drain the raisins and mix them in.
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Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until firm on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
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Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, run a knife or small offset spatula around the edge of the pans, and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
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Cool fully before serving. Layer and decorate with vanilla buttercream or vanilla powdered sugar frosting, if desired. A simple dusting of powdered sugar would look lovely as well.
Gingerbread Layer Cake Recipe Notes
- This cake can also be baked in a 13 x 9″ pan. The baking time will increase to about 35 to 40 minutes.
- I have updated the method for ease and for best results. As usual with spiced cakes, I incorporate the spices into the wet ingredients, and not the dry. This allows the ginger, nutmeg, and orange zest to bloom.
- This cake — like most cakes — is even better the next day, or even two. The layers should fully cool before frosting them.
Love this festive ginger cake recipe? Spice things up some more with these holiday recipes:
Old Fashioned Gingerbread Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 large orange, zested and halved
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup molasses (I like Grandmom's brand)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup brandy or coffee (can use water in a pinch)
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup seedless golden raisins
- 1 recipe vanilla buttercream (recipe linked below)
Instructions
- Grease two 8" cake pans and preheat the oven to 350°F. Set the raisins to soften in a bowl of warm water. PRO TIP: Always soak and soften dried fruit before adding it to scones, cookies, or cake. That way, the fruit will not burn or toughen, and will not draw moisture from the batter.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, light brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, orange zest, and salt. Add the eggs and whip until fluffy and light. PRO TIP: Grease the measuring cup before measuring the molasses. The molasses will slip right out instead of sticking. Same goes for measuring honey or other liquid sugars, such as glucose or corn syrup.
- Fold in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, brandy or coffee, milk, and juice of half the orange. Mix until smooth. Drain the raisins and mix them in.
- Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until firm on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, run a knife or small offset spatula around the edge of the pans, and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
- Cool fully before serving. Layer and decorate with vanilla buttercream or vanilla powdered sugar frosting, if desired. A simple dusting of powdered sugar would look lovely as well.
Notes
18 comments
Rômulo
how many grams of butter??? Is this amount of wheat flour correct? hug !
Unpeeled
Hello there! Yes, this is for white, all-purpose wheat flour, though you are welcome to substitute gluten-free flour as you like. The gram equivalent for the 4 ounces (1 stick) of butter is 113 grams. Enjoy 🙂
Catherine
Does this cake freeze well?
Unpeeled
Absolutely. When it has fully cooled, wrap it securely in plastic wrap and freeze. You can thaw at room temperature overnight.
Martha
Thank you for this recipe and I loved learning about the history of the recipe as well.
Nora
Could this cake work with cream cheese frosting? Cake recipe looks delicious but I’m not a huge fan of buttercream frosting.
Unpeeled
Absolutely! I think that would actually be delicious. I sometimes think buttercream frosting can be a little too sweet. I think the slight tang of cream cheese would taste wonderful.
Kristine
Omg.. how did I almost over bake the outside while the middle was underdone.. fell in the middle. What did I do?? Lol. The flavor was great though ?.
Unpeeled
Oh no! That’s so sad! So sorry to hear that. Nothing’s worse in the kitchen than a baking fail. The most common reasons a cake can fall are under-baking, the oven temperature being off, accidentally measuring the leavening agents incorrectly (baking soda, powder, etc.), or under-mixing the batter and not building enough aeration for the cake to rise evenly. Does any of that sound possible? I love diagnosing and helping with cake issues, so let me know how we can put our heads together on this one. In any event, I am glad you thought it tasted good at least!
Gayla
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
Unpeeled
Great question. Absolutely. Keep the same oven temperature. They will take around 25 minutes in a standard muffin tin (but start checking at 20 minutes). Hope you enjoy!
Becky W.
Turned out great!
R.T.
I really liked the robust flavor of this. It was sweet and very “gingerbready,” and was very good with the frosting because the sweetness was a good counterpoint to the spice cake..
Jeanette
Great recipe with lots of flavor and very moist. I made this in a loaf pan.
Roo
You have 2 tablespoons of ground ginger twice mentioned in the recipe above. Is that a booboo or do you really mean 4 tablespoons of ginger. WOW that would be a lot of ginger!
Unpeeled
Ack!! Wonderful catch! You’re right…that might be just a little spicy. Corrected to 2 tablespoons total. Thanks so much.