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If there’s anything that truly screams Christmas, it’s gingerbread. Therefore, I can’t think of a better way to kick the holiday season off than with this Cream Cheese Swirled Chai Gingerbread Cake. This sweet, super moist gingerbread cake is made with brown sugar, molasses, and a touch of vanilla extract. It’s spiced up with the warming flavors of chai and baked with a swirl of cream cheese throughout the center. The final touch is a generous drizzle of buttery lemon glaze. This perfectly sweet and spiced up version of gingerbread cake is so delicious. Perfect for baking on cold December days while cozied up inside!
This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
There’s nothing I love more than a festive dessert. I know I’ve said this many times, but this time of year is truly my favorite. Something about the holidays always brings out my most creative side. I love the types of recipes I share in November and December more than any others throughout the year. This gingerbread cake turned out even better than I envisioned, so I am so excited to share the recipe with you guys.
Not only is this cake delicious, it’s also simple to make. This truly is a wintery cake…warming, lightly spiced, a touch buttery, and slightly decadent… just about as close to perfect as a cake can get.
This time of year, my fridge is stocked with my favorite Land O Lakes® Extra Creamy Butter. You may not know this, but the variety of butter you use can really make a difference, especially when baking. I love the rich buttery flavor and hints of salt in Land O Lakes® Extra Creamy Butter. It creams wonderfully into batters and always turns out a moist delicious cake.
The first step is to cream the butter with brown sugar and molasses. The sugar adds sweetness, while the molasses adds that classic gingerbread color and rich flavor. Once the wet ingredients have been thoroughly mixed in, add the dry.
For my dry mix, I use the basics…flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
But for the spices? I didn’t use just ginger. I also incorporated the spices used in a steaming cup of chai tea…ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, and pepper. It’s the ultimate spice blend that gives you a very gingery gingerbread cake, hinting of the flavor of chai.
Once the batter is mixed up, there is one last key ingredient, cream cheese. At the last minute, I decided to add a swirl of creamy cream cheese to the center of this cake. Something about all the spices and rich molasses paired with cream cheese sounded so good to me.
And you know? The cream cheese ended up truly complementing all the spices. It adds a nice creaminess to every bite…so delicious.
Layer the batter with the cream cheese and bake. As the cake bakes, your house will be filled with the smells of ginger and cinnamon. At this point, holiday music should be playing. And in a wintry movie world, a fire will be roaring, snow will be falling, and the lights on your tree will be twinkling away.
The perfect picture, right? To me, yes. But again, I love this cozy time of year. If it snowed every day this month, I’d be happy. It’s a great excuse to stay inside and bake…specifically this gingerbread cake.
Originally, I had a completely different icing in mind for this cake, but after my first round of testing, I knew I wanted an icing that would lighten the cake while enhancing its flavors.
Enter this lemony, buttery, vanilla icing. It has hints of sweet butter, lemon, and plenty of vanilla. It’s perfect for finishing this spiced gingerbread cake and adds just the right amount of sweetness.
every chance you get this month.
No really, I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this cake. I’ve already made it several times over the last two weeks. It’s the easiest cake to mix up, and it always comes out looking impressive with the swirl of cream cheese inside and that pretty off-white icing on top.
I’ve enjoyed this cake slightly warm with a cup of cocoa. I’ve also gifted it twice to friends as a holiday thank you (it wraps up beautifully in a cute little gift box).
So my suggestion? Take some time off this weekend for a little holiday baking. Nothing is better than a gingerbread cake baking in the oven on a cozy wintery weekend.
PS. Looking for more gingerbread recipes…check out some of these oldies but goodies!
If you make this cream cheese swirled chai gingerbread cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
{This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!}
The savory cheese a bit of an odd contrast – next time I’d whip it first next time with powdered sugar and lemon juice, and add rum soaked rasins. The cake wasn’t sweet enough.
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I like it but wouldn’t make it again. Pumpkin/veg cakes confuse me tbh.
Hi! I am sorry this did not work out well for you. If there is anything I can help with, please let me know! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy some other recipes of mine! xTieghan
can you freeze this – with or without icing
Hi Trish! This cake freezes well without the icing. Add the icing before serving. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I’ve made this lovely cake twice now and it was devoured the first time so I’m excited to bring another to a party tomorrow. The only issue I had both times with the lemon glaze. The flavor was fantastic but it curdled both times like the other comments I read. I’m going to try adding another cup of powdered sugar to the glaze to thicken it and hopefully it will look creamy and not curdled.
Thanks for the lovely recipes!
Thank you so much Elyse! I am so glad you have been loving this cake!! Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with! xTieghan
The cake was delicious. I think I would like it even better without the cream cheese. It is rich and moist on its own. I wound up eating around the cream cheese.
I did not have success with your frosting. The butter and liquids never became a homogenous mass and was very thin. I did start with room temperature items so maybe the bowl was too cold? Next time, I will make a dark chocolate glaze or a simple lemon juice and powdered sugar.
Hey Sandy! You can certainly omit the cream cheese if you prefer.
For the frosting, was there anything you did differently? I’m not sure why it would not have come together for your. So sorry for the trouble! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you! xTieghan
Since Husband and Youngest are not fond of lemon in desserts, I omitted the lemon in the icing….which gave this recipe two thumbs up in their eyes!
That is so great! I am so glad this turned out so well for you Michelle! xTieghan
I made this cake for Christmas and everybody really enjoyed it. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Thank you Tammy! So glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Can you use a 6 cup Bundt pan instead of 10 cup? Looks delicious! Thanks!
HI! I am sorry, that will be too small for this cake. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and I hope you had Merry Christmas! Sorry my response is a bit late! xTieghan
Made this and it smells amazing…. how did you get the icing to not cuddle though?!
HI! I am not sure why your frosting would curdle. Can you give me some more details on what is happening? Very hard to know. I hope you loved this recipe! Thank you and I hope you had Merry Christmas! Sorry my response is a bit late! xTieghan
I am making this a day ahead of serving it. Should I glaze before serving, or right after baking?
Thanks!
HI! HI! You should glaze the cake just fore serving. It will look nice and fresh this way. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and I hope you had Merry Christmas! Sorry my response is a bit late! xTieghan
The topping is horribly watery, even when just using the one tablespoon of milk. It does not look anything like what’s pictured, which is the super bummer because I was really excited to take this to a potluck. Hopefully it’ll still taste good, but I was hoping more of the icing would actually stick to the cake rather than just fall down the sides.
Hi Melissa! I am really sorry to hear that! Are there any questions I could help you with or anything that could have gone wrong with the recipe? Please let me know! xTieghan
Holy Moses this is extravagant and delicious. That glaze is devilishly good! Such a unique holiday and wonderful desert.
Thank you Katherine! I am so glad this cake turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Delicious! Will definitely make again
Thank you so much Jennifer! xTieghan
Delicious! Will definitely make again.
Hello!! So, I’m very new to baking and I tried to make this the other day, but unfortunately I used black strap molasses and learned that this is not the right kind of molasses, as my cake turned out pretty bitter. Could you please inform me of the proper type to use? I read online that there are about 5 different types ?
HI! I actually prefer to use blackstrap molasses so I am not sure why your cake was bitter. Did you use all the called for ingredients? Did you add all the sugar? Any info will be helpful to help me problem solve and figure out what might be happening for you. It’s hard to know without knowing any details. Hope I can help you! xTieghan
Have you ever dozen the cake only?
HI! I have not frozen the cake, but I would imagine it freezes just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan