If you’re looking to wow your guests this holidays season, this Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting is for you!
The next month will be full of opportunities for you to host, serve, and gift food. Whether you’re having the family down for a Thanksgiving feast, donating items for a bake sale, or thanking a neighbor for clearing the snow from your driveway -this Layered Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting will impress. Super easy to whip up, I actually had my cake baked by 8:30 one morning, and the simplicity in the way it is frosted, makes it something for all skill levels. If you’re a newbie to gluten-free baking, bake this and knock everyone’s socks off.
This cake can easily be baked ahead of time, and it can even be assembled, covered, and refrigerated for two days before serving it. This cake above, it was actually refrigerated for 3 days before being served to my husband’s co-workers, and they all gave it rave reviews. “Two thumbs up!”, “11 out of 10”, and “This is my supper” were all comments heard while they were enjoying it.
The best part? Most of them had no clue it was even gluten-free. How awesome is that? I love when food is just good food, not good for being gluten-free. That brings a smile to my face. By the way – they devoured it by 9:30 in the morning. Nothing but an empty cake stand left for the rest of the day. I’d say the Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake was a success.
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting
If you’re looking to wow your guests this holidays season, this Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting is for you!
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake:
- 1 cup (120 g) millet flour
- 1 cup (120 g) Only Oats oat flour
- 1 cup (125 g) tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) oil
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 cup (250 ml) fancy molasses
Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 12 oz (340 g) cream cheese, softened
- 6 oz (170 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4-5 cups (500-352 g) confectioners' sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons (30-60 ml) heavy cream or eggnog
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) rum extract
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground nutmeg
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C), and line the bottom of two 9-inch (22 cm) round baking pans with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the millet flour, oat flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, xanthan gum, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the oil and sugars until smooth. Next, whisk in the eggs, milk and apple sauce. Lastly, whisk in the molasses.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until blended.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two baking pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Turn the cakes out onto wire cooling racks, remove the parchment paper, and let cool completely before frosting.
Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons cream, rum extract, and nutmeg. Beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining confectioners' sugar, until the frosting is stiff enough to frost the cake, but not too thick. Add more cream if necessary.
Assembling the Cake:
- For a four-layer cake, carefully split each cake in half lengthwise. Place the bottom of one of the cakes on a plate stand, followed by a layer of frosting, leaving the sides of the cake exposed. Place the top of that cake on top of the frosting, and frost the top of it. Repeat with the second cake. Garnish with sugared cranberries if desired. Cover and refrigerate, taking it out 30 minutes before serving to allow it to come to room temperature.
Want to know how to EASILY make sugared cranberries? Using a clean (not used for paint) paintbrush, I painted the fresh cranberries with a very thin coat of light corn syrup. You can also just roll them between your fingers to ensure that they are fully covered in the syrup. You don’t want them dripping, just tacky. Drop them in a bowl of granulated sugar, and roll to coat them. Place on wax paper until you are ready to use them. They make a beautiful edible garnish.
Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for creating this recipe. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Michelle @ My Gluten-free Kitchen says
I can’t get over what a gorgeous dessert this is! Your tip for how to do the sugared cranberries – genius! I never would have thought of that one!
Jeanine says
Thank you, Michelle! Some food is just more photogenic than others – this cake shone! 🙂
Cathy says
Can I use Almond and or Coconut flour instead of the oat flour and Millett flour?
Jeanine Friesen says
There are other comments about almond flour, but I don’t think anyone has tried it. Almond and coconut flours are not ones that you can simply substitute one-to-one like some other flours. You’re welcome to experiment, but I’ve only made it as written.
Laurel says
Whoa, well you’ve definitely wowed me. Mission accomplished!
Jeanine says
Haha, mission accomplished! 🙂
Vivi says
Gorgeous
Jean, what can I use in the place of millet flour? My local bulkbarn does not carry it.
Jeanine says
Hi Vivianti,
Sorghum & Millet can be used interchangeably in a lot of recipes, but I’m not sure that Bulk Barn carries either. They may, I haven’t looked in a long time.
Suzi says
this looks marvelous, and I would love to try it. Just one small problem – I can’t eat apples, or apple sauce, as I am fructose/fructan intolerant. Any suggestions for a substitution?
Jeanine says
More oil. 😉
connie mag says
Am allergic to eggs; what would you suggest as an egg substitute that will hold up pretty good?
EA-The Spicy RD says
This is a gorgeous cake! I’m showing this to my daughter who wants to make Christmas desserts this year. She is a huge fan of eggnog-I have a feeling this may be on our table for desert this year!
Julia @ Swirls and Spice says
I’ve been wanting to make a cake like this with ice cream between the layers! Your cake looks beautiful!
Ginger says
Can almond flour be substituted for the oat flour or do you have another suggestion? I react to oats, even gluten free. 🙁
Jeanine says
I think the almond might be too heavy, I’d try either a sorghum or millet if you can’t tolerate the oat flour. But, I haven’t tried it that way, so it would require some experimenting. 🙂
Roberta Wiebe says
Is it possible to make the cake sugar free