This Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcake is a delicious twist on a holiday classic. A rich spiced chocolate cake paired with a dark chocolate ganache.
These are the cookies my parents always get from the Polish store during the holidays. It’s these puffy and soft (though often dry) chocolate covered gingerbread cookies. Very similar to THESE, but with polish packaging (lol). You can get them plain or filled with some kind of jam, but I’ve always preferred them plain.
I didn’t actually set out to make this cake with them in mind, but as soon as I took the first bite I was like – what does this remind me of?? This Chocolate Gingerbread Cake is my version of those cookie cakes.
How to make this chocolate ginger cake
This cake was still another adventure in preparation. And this time I had bought everything I needed in advance. I was ready for this.
I thought I would start baking as well and store the cake layers in the fridge until I was ready to decorate. Too bad I didn’t remember I wanted to use this Chocolate Gingerbread Cake with my new cake stand.
The two 8 inch layers I baked were too big and definitely wouldn’t work with this stand. DELETE. Fortunately, the layers tasted delicious on their own, so they didn’t go to waste.
Getting two layers (6″ this time) was a success, and I made the ganache frosting ahead of time as it needs to sit and thicken.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
The ganache filling in this chocolate gingerbread cake is on the thinner side (read: not the easiest to work with at room temperature). It’s quite soft and when you’re trying to stack 6 layers, they can start to slide a bit.
Once I had the cake layers stacked, I pushed them all together instead of even and then attached 4 bamboo skewers (cut to the correct height) to the top of the cake to act as a support.
Another alternative is to refrigerate the ganache to thicken, but you have to watch and stir it often to make sure it thickens evenly. If left in the fridge for too long, it will harden to the point where it won’t spread.
The texture of the ganache is very good with this cake. It is smooth and creamy at room temperature and rich and truffle-like when chilled. It really is the best.
It’s my preference to have it this way, but you might want something a little thicker and easier to work with. As such, I’ve included two Dark Chocolate Ganache recipes below – you can choose which one you prefer!
Decorating this gingerbread cake
Okay, so it’s decorating day! I have the ganache ready, my second set of baked cake layers, and all my props and garnishes on hand. Woohoo!
My original plan was to place rosemary trees on the top or sides of the cake, similar to me Gingerbread Cake. I had also bought some sprigs of thyme to act as a different group of trees.
I didn’t get a good look at the rosemary when I bought it (ugh). When I finally did, I found it to be huge. Seriously, those were some giant mutant rosemary sprigs.
They would certainly look funny on top, or even on the sides of this cake. DAMMIT. I go to the store.
Not just one store though, no, that would be too easy. The farmers market I checked first also had giant rosemary, Safeway didn’t have any (wtf) and I finally found some regular size rosemary at an organic store.
Ironically, it was the closest store to my house and I should have gone there first (sigh). I also found pomegranate seeds and gingerbread cookies there that I intended to use as more props.
You’ll notice there are no rosemary trees in this cake (LOL).
I didn’t like the way they looked at all. The cake is already tall, so having them on top looked ridiculous, and pressing them on the sides just looked weird.
I didn’t end up using the damn gingerbread cookies either (although they were delicious to eat while photographing).
So my 30 minute outing resulted in using the one thing I had no intention of buying in the first place – pomegranate seeds.
Did I mention I also left the house with no makeup on, wearing whatever I was wearing (it wasn’t pretty) and wet hair in near-freezing temperatures? It was fun times all around. In retrospect, though, I think the pomegranate seeds look pretty cool, so I’m glad I bought them!
Oh, AND, my ganache was lumpy because I didn’t make sure all the chocolate chips were completely melted. UGH. I thought they were, yes looked as they were, but I should have listened to my gut and put the bowl over a double boiler on the stove just to make sure. So I had to strain the ganache (true story) because I wanted to get the pieces out.
Never a dull moment at Liv for cake kitchen!
Antler cake stand
So this cake stand that I was so determined to use that I re-baked the cake layers… borderline tacky, I know, but it just screams holiday, winter, and Christmas, and I had to have it. The deer antlers go so well with the wooden exterior of this cake.
Apparently, it’s not actually a cake stand at all. I literally discovered this just now while I was looking for information to see if I could find it online to link to you (I couldn’t) but the only thing I found was some safety precautions for a pillar candle . Lol, oops.
Anyway, this candle holder that moonlights as a candy holder works pretty well, doesn’t it? So I think. Except when it was about putting the cake there and then cutting off a piece. The horns didn’t make my life easier there, but it worked out in the end.
I am happy with the texture in the cream. It reminds me of tree bark and I love this rustic wood look for the holidays. It was actually very simple to make.
After I frosted the cake and smoothed the sides, I used this cream comb (grooves at the bottom) to make the texture.
I pressed it to the side of the cake and rolled the cake on my turntable. I went over it a few times to create a more rustic and messy look.
Since the cake was chilled before the final frosting, the ganache would start to harden on the cake which made it easier to create the texture.
I decided to go for 6 layers with this cake and I’m so glad I did. The cake is incredibly rich and delicious, with hints of gingerbread throughout, and the silky dark chocolate ganache makes a perfect pairing in this chocolate gingerbread cake.
Tips for this Chocolate Ginger Cake:
- The recipe as is will also work in two 8 inch pans. For three 8-inch pans, 1.5 times the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you have to do is reduce the baking time – start checking at 15 minutes or so.
- The ganache recipe is quite soft at room temperature and can be more difficult to work with. Read the post above for details. I have included an alternative ganache recipe that is thicker.
- When making the ganache, make sure you chop the chocolate very finely and make sure it’s all melted after you add the cream. I had chunks in mine (because I was too lazy to chop the chocolate into small pieces) that I had to drain.
- If you’re looking for more holiday-inspired cakes, be sure to check out mine Gingerbread Cake, Egg cake, Cake with spicesAND White Chocolate Candy Cane Cake!
- To ensure your cake layers bake nice and flat, see my Flat cakes post.
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake
This Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcake is a delicious twist on a holiday classic. A rich spiced chocolate cake paired with a dark chocolate ganache.
sERVICE 12
Calories 698kcal
Ingredients
Chocolate Ganache Frosting – Original:
Chocolate Ganache Frosting – Alternative:
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake:
GUIDELINES
Chocolate Ganache Frosting (made in advance):
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Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl.
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In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to boil.
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Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for 5 minutes.
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Mix gently with a spatula until completely smooth.
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Place the plastic wrap directly over the chocolate ganache. Allow to thicken and simmer overnight.*
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake:
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Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6-inch round pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line the ends with parchment.
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Place all dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
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In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (pour water slowly so as not to cook the eggs if they are too hot).
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2-3 minutes. The dough will be very thin.
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Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter was evenly distributed.
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Bake until cake tester comes out mostly clean. Total 30-35 minutes.
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Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assembly:
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Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
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Place one cake layer on a cake pan or serving plate. Top with about 1/2 cup of ganache. Repeat with the remaining layers. Fry and smooth the outside with a thin layer of crumbs. Chill for at least 20 minutes until firm and set.**
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Brush the cooled cake with the remaining ganache. It will start to set against the cooled cake.
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Use a decorating comb (I used the bottom of this one here) on the sides and top of the cake. Run it across the cake a few times to create a rustic look.
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On top, we decorate it with sprigs of thyme and pomegranate seeds as desired.
endnoteS
* You can speed up the thickening of the ganache by putting it in the fridge, but you have to stir it often.
** If the ganache is too thin or soft and the cake layers start to slide a bit during assembly, you can place 3-4 bamboo skewers on the top of the cake as support. You will need to trim the skewers to the correct height of the cake.
Calories: 698kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 8gFat: 45gSaturated fat: 28gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 310mgPotassium: 618mgFiber: 7gSugar: 41gVitamin A: 760wasVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 125mgIron: 7.6mg
Nutritional information and metric conversions are automatically calculated. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favorite food calculator and/or metric conversion tool.
Originally published on November 26, 2017
