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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!}
Hi! Love this recipe but the glaze separated on me twice. Any advice on the glaze?
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try! So sorry, what do you mean the glaze separated? I’ve never had that happen before. Let me know how I can help! xx
Hi! What kind of molasses should be used in this recipe?
Hi Leah,
Traditional molasses is great to use for this recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope it turns out well for you! xx
The texture is really beautiful, but the molasses flavour was overpowering, to the point that I could barely taste the spices. If I were to make this again, I’d substitute a good chunk of the molasses with honey. As it was, it was quite yummy with whipped cream, but we needed that creamy lightness to cut the molasses. Gosh, that was a strong molasses flavour.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for making this cake and sharing your feedback, so sorry it was not enjoyed. Please let me know if I can answer any questions! xx
Hi there! I’m in the UK and there’s only dark brown sugar or light brown sugar. No “brown sugar.” The dark brown sugar says it’s best for gingerbread but that could be referring to the cookies. Which brown sugar should I use? Thanks so much!
Hi there,
Dark born sugar will be great to use:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I can never get bundt cakes to release out of the pan in one piece. I buttered it twice and let it sit for 15 minutes and it only released half of the cake and broke where the cream cheese layer began. My granddaughter and I pieced it together and threw the icing on so it didn’t look too bad until she tripped on the stairs carrying it home. It will make a nice pudding now and will still taste amazing. Do you have any tips on getting bundt cakes out? I didn’t want to butter and flour the pan as it would take away from the color of the gingerbread.
Hey there,
Thank you so very much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Do you grease your pans? Happy Holidays!??
Yes I greased the pan using soft butter and applied it with a brush. I did it twice to ensure it had a good coat of butter. 98% of my bundt recipes that use butter vs oil don’t come out. I’ve tried teflon coated bundt pans and even the fancy William Sonoma Nordic Ware cast aluminum type. I seriously think going forward I will start using a tube pan with a removable bottom. Happy Holidays Tieghan.
So sorry to hear this!!
could I omit the chai spice? and make it more of just a gingerbread cake? if I did- which ones would I remove to take out the chair flavor but keep the gingerbread?
Hi Cheyanne,
I really haven’t tried this and I worry that omitting some of the spices that you would lose flavor in the cake. Please let me know if you give it a try. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
Do you think there would be enough batter for me to split this into to 8 inch round cake pans to make a layered cake?
Thanks! 🙂
Hey Teresa,
Yes, that should work well for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
this recipe looks amazing. I’m wondering if I can omit the cream cheese?
Hi Donna,
Yes, that would be okay to do! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Hi have you tried this with grated ginger instead of powdered ginger? I really really like ginger! Thanks!
Hey Lauren,
Sorry I haven’t but for a sweet recipe like this I would stick with the ground ginger. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
Do you have a Bundt pan that you’d recommend? Thanks!
Hey Christine,
Here is the link: https://rstyle.me/+xb3YRurESCcYF6m-2KAi2g
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Just made this for my family yesterday on Christmas and we all loved it! I loved the smell of the spices and even though I couldn’t find the individual spices like cardamom and all-spice, I used a “pumpkin spice” mix and it still turned out great. The cream cheese was a fun surprise inside the cake, though next time I will whip it to be creamier. Thank you for an amazing cake!
Hey Evie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This looks so good! Do you know if it would be ok to make the batter in advance and bake it a day or two later? We are traveling across the state so I figured maybe I would make the batter rather than bringing all of the ingredients with me.
Hey Kristen,
I have never tried that, but honestly I would just bake the entire cake and travel with it. Should be great! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Loved, loved, loved this “twist” on the gingerbread bunt cake! It was delicious!!
We are a dairy free household, I omitted the cream cheese and used unsweetened coconut milk (full fat) in place of the milk and used a basic lemon juice, zest and confectioners sugar for the icing.
Hey Chihiro,
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a try, I am glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This cake looks amazing! Do you think I could make it in a mini Bundt cake pan if I reduced the baking time? I would love to gift smaller versions to family members for Christmas.
Hey Rachel,
Sure you could do that! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
Where can I find the same bundt pan you used in this recipe?
Hey Mandy,
Here is the link for my bundt pan: https://rstyle.me/+xb3YRurESCcYF6m-2KAi2g
I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan