This easy gingerbread cake is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and only takes ten minutes to mix up. This homemade ginger cake is topped with a maple cream cheese frosting and is the perfect any time cake.

Gingerbread Sheet Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting - a warming spiced cake, topped with a silky, maple, ream cheese frosting. A super simple yet delicious cake, perfect for feeding a crowd or for a quick holiday pick me up.

Hi hi! Just popping in to share this super easy gingerbread cake recipe with you! This homemade gingerbread cake is quick to make (comes together in 10 minutes!), and is perfectly moist, so is great to make ahead. It has a rich molasses flavor and is perfectly spiced - I love it so much.

I love making homemade cake recipes, but they often require a lot of time or effort, which is why sheet cakes are the perfect compromise. They bake up as a single layer, and are really easy to transport in the pan that you made them in. My Devil's food cake and my Tiramisu cake are both easy sheet cakes that I make often.

I topped this ginger cake recipe with a super simple maple cream cheese frosting, although it would be delicious as is too! The recipe for this gingerbread cake comes from my friend Brooke Bell's book, “Cake: Layered, Frosted, Sliced and Shared”. I also made it in layer cake form in this gingerbread layer cake.

I hope you love this gingerbread cake! It is amazing any time of the year, but also makes a perfect holiday cake recipe.

How to make Gingerbread Cake

This gingerbread cake recipe is super easy - the cake itself is a one bowl gingerbread cake recipe, and because it is oil based, which makes it super moist, there is no need to warm up the butter before, so it comes together quickly.

Prep your pan. I use a 9"x13" (20cm x 30cm) pan, and line it with parchment paper which sticks up a little up the sides of the pan to help with easy removal once cooled. If you are serving straight from the pan you could also just spray with some cooking spray or brush with butter.
Combine dry ingredients. You can do this in a mixer or by hand - place them all into the mixer and mix until incorporated.
Add wet ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add your wet ingredients - I like to break up the yolks of the egg with a fork.
Mix to combine. It's almost too easy - mix all the ingredients together and you are good to go!
Bake. Bake the gingerbread cake until a toothpick comes out clean - this should take 28-30 minutes.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

I topped this homemade gingerbread cake with a maple cream cheese frosting, as I had some cream cheese that needed using up.

However, the gingerbread cake would be delicious just as is, served with a sprinkle of powdered sugar before serving.

If you wanted to make both components ahead, you could make the the maple cream cheese frosting a few days in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge and assemble closer to serving.

How to Store Gingerbread

This gingerbread cake is best stored in an airtight container in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting. If you are making it ahead and just storing the cake, it can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For more sheet cake recipes, check out:

Made this recipe and love it?

If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!

A note on salt and oven temperature

It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.

All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

Using the double / triple function in the recipe card

You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator!

Tools and equipment

For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here.

Why is this recipe in grams?

I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!