Name: Gingerbread Cake with Maple Bourbon Frosting
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 130 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter (one stick); 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed; 1 large egg; 3/4 cup molasses; 1 tsp maple extract; 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk; 2 cups all purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger; 2 tsp cinnamon; 1 cup boiling hot water; 1 cup chopped pecans; 1/4 cup butter, softened or 1/2 stick; 4 oz cream cheese, softened; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tbsp maple syrup; 1/2 cup powdered sugar; 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, packed; 1 tbsp bourbon

This quick and easy Instant Pot gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting is loaded with nostalgic holiday flavors and the most amazing frosting you will not forget about soon. You will love this easy Christmas gingerbread cake!

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Instant Pot Gingerbread Cake with Maple Bourbon Frosting

The winter and holiday favorite gingerbread spices up the season with sweet gingery cookies and cakes. During the cold harsh winter months, nothing beats the chill like the peppery warmth and syrupy chew of delicious Christmas gingerbread cake.

While we enjoy this seasonal treat in a variety of forms, one of the best and most overlooked options is gingerbread cake. Gingerbread cake is not like ordinary gingerbread. Among other things, gingerbread cake is moist and supports more robust toppings such as the exquisite maple bourbon frosting in this recipe.

Read on to find out more about how to prepare and serve this magical pecan-topped, maple-bourbon-frosted Christmas gingerbread cake.

As you set out to bake a season’s worth of holiday goodies, make sure you stock up on plenty of the winter spices. These include cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

Don’t forget the sugars, syrups, and extracts as well. They give us that delicate balance of sugar and spice that we all crave during this festive time of year.

You will undoubtedly make plenty of cookies and the occasional pie. However, no holiday is complete without gingerbread in some form. Whether you make and decorate little gingerbread men, or take on an elaborate gingerbread house, the quintessential Christmas treat comes from this chewy and satisfying flavor-filled treat.

Above all, my favorite way to enjoy it is when I make this gingerbread cake. This recipe comes complete with all of the supporting flavors from maple, to bourbon, to crunchy, sweet pecans.

Special Ingredients for Gingerbread Cake with Maple Bourbon Frosting

The Christmas gingerbread cake itself requires a few special ingredients on top of what you probably already stock in your baking cupboard.

Molasses
Maple extract
Sweetened condensed milk
Chopped pecans

The decadent maple bourbon frosting has two key ingredients you may or may not have on hand so make sure to stock up so you can nail this amazing flavor.

Real maple syrup
Bourbon

Here is another important note on the frosting. Using real maple syrup is the only way to get the flavor in this Christmas gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting just right.

How to Make Cake in an Instant Pot

You will love how quick and simple this Instant Pot gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting recipe is! In fact, once you try it I think you’ll agree baking in an Instant Pot is the best!

This Christmas gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting has three basic steps.

Make the batter
Bake
Cool and frost

I love this recipe because it takes the classic holiday gingerbread cookie and mixes it up a bit by using an Instant Pot or pressure cooker and produces an easy and amazing dessert. In fact, I consider this my best gingerbread cake recipe!

When you bake using your Instant Pot, you’ll make your life a lot easier by using an Instant Pot Bakeware Sling. You wrap this around your baking pan and it aids with lifting pans from the Instant Pot once it’s finished baking. Trust me, you will not regret investing in this handy product!

What’s the Difference Between Gingerbread Cake and Gingerbread?

“Gingerbread” is a very broad term. Gingerbread cake, or ginger cake as it is sometimes called, is a version of gingerbread more similar to other “loaf” bread.

While dense, gingerbread cake is fluffier and moister than traditional gingerbread, which is the kind used for houses and cookies. If you made a house out of gingerbread cake, it would be built like a brick house with my (incredible) maple bourbon frosting used as mortar to hold it all together.

Whether you bake it as a loaf or as a cake, gingerbread cake is more robust and more decadent than its flatter and drier counterparts.

Gingerbread loaves are not too dissimilar from pumpkin bread. There is a lot of the same flavoring, but gingerbread is drier, denser and a bit edgier when it comes to spice. These components make an excellent foundation for a delicious frosted cake because the flavors are not too sweet as to overpower your senses when combined with more sugary components.

The end result of this gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting is a wide scope of individual flavors. Each enhances the other and works well when combined into one recipe.

Low on Molasses? Try Treacle

This gingerbread cake recipe relies on molasses, which is a common ingredient in gingerbread. However, molasses is not a commonly-stocked item in the average pantry, depending on where you sit geographically.

A common molasses substitution is treacle. Molasses is a form of treacle known as “black treacle,” and it has that familiar strong, slightly bitter taste. However, there is also a lighter variety known as golden syrup. The golden variety is a bit sweeter and is a common ingredient in British baking.

Here’s a brief explanation of how treacle is made

Treacle and molasses are both derived from sugar during the refining process. They are a thick, syrupy and dark byproduct of refined sugar that has a bitter taste. This bitterness and thickness are important when you make gingerbread cake and gingerbread cookies.

Some people favor treacle over molasses (and vice versa). It also can come down to what is available locally.

In that respect, sometimes you can’t get your hands on either, or you just don’t have it readily available when you have all of the other ingredients necessary to bake this extraordinary cake. In that case, there are options.

Learn more about treacle here.

Molasses Substitutions

There is no real substitute for molasses or treacle in this recipe, but you can make it with alternative ingredients to some satisfaction.

If you need to, you can substitute molasses for dark corn syrup or golden syrup and you’ll have a successful gingerbread cake.

In a pinch, these molasses substitutions will get the job done!

The Benefit of Frosting on Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread cake supports generous amounts of frosting. That’s because it is not overly sweet on its own. Also, the density of the cake makes it an ideal canvas. It holds up well to thick luscious frosting encrusted with a pile of chopped pecans.

You may be tempted to call this “icing on the cake,” but you definitely want to frost gingerbread cake.

There is more than a mere colloquial difference between the terms “icing” and “frosting.” This easy gingerbread cake recipe calls for frosting, which is the lighter, thicker, fluffier option between the two.

Dense, shiny icing is great for coating a cookie or detailed decoration. However, frosting is the topping you add in gobs. You spread frosting over the top and sides and in between layers of a delicious cake.

If you love this maple bourbon frosting, you can also use it to make amazing gingerbread cookie sandwiches as well.

Other Gingerbread Recipes You’ll Love

Easy Gingerbread Cupcakes
Heart Stuffed Ginger Cookies
Easy Gingerbread Fudge
Easy Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies

Maple Bourbon is a Perfect Flavor Pairing

Maple and bourbon are a winning combination. Many bourbons include prominent maple notes. In addition, some maple syrups use bourbon as a flavor enhancement.

This flavor combination is exceptionally suited to this amazing maple bourbon frosting recipe. Since there is such a thing as maple bourbon, please note that this recipe uses regular bourbon. The maple flavor comes from the other ingredients in the recipe.

Remember to use real maple syrup, as this is the only way to get the flavor in this easy gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting just right.

Make sure not to use a cheaper alternative because it will impact the quality of the finished product. It’s tempting, I know but you will thank me once you taste the incredible results of your Instant Pot gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting.

If you use all the ingredients called for in this recipe, this frosting is the best thing you’ll make all holiday season.

Serve it with Fruit

As wonderful as this gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting recipe is on its own, I think this is a perfect time to mention that you can make this gingerbread cake even better by enhancing it with a side of tart winter fruits.

Gingerbread pairs exceptionally well with fruit, including tart, seasoned, pan-seared apple wedges and broiled pineapple. To add some Southeast Asian flare, you can incorporate pomelo curd and candy the peel.

These complimentary fruits bring a different combination of sweetness and bite. They continue the balancing effect of this broad mix of flavors.

Gingerbread Cake with Maple Bourbon Frosting

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 70 minutes
Makes: 1 7” cake Ingredients

While gingerbread cake has traditionally been a Christmas gingerbread cake recipe, you don’t have to limit it to holiday season!

Ingredients

This dense, flavor-rich cake is perfect at any time of year and is quick and easy in the Instant Pot.

Gingerbread Cake

½ cup butter one stick
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup molasses
1 tsp maple extract
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup boiling hot water
1 cup chopped pecans

Maple bourbon frosting for gingerbread cake

While gingerbread cake is tasty on its own, this maple bourbon frosting is pure magic. You will love how this decadent frosting elevates your entire dessert and will keep you coming back for more!

4 oz butter ½ stick, softened
4 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp bourbon

Instructions

Prepare cake batter. Cream butter and sugar. Whisk in egg and molasses. Next, stir in maple extract and sweetened condensed milk. Whisk well to combine

Add flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon to the bowl and whisk until smooth. Carefully pour hot water into the batter and whisk.

Add 1 ½ cups of water to the instant pot.

Lightly spray a 7” springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into the pan. Cover with foil and lower into the instant pot using a sling. Seal and set on manual high pressure for 60 minutes.

Prepare frosting. In a small bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add all remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix on high speed for 3 minutes. Cover, and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the instant pot has finished cooking, allow natural release for 10 minutes. Remove from the instant pot and let cool completely before adding frosting.

Once cooled, add frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and enjoy!

Storage Instructions for Instant Pot Gingerbread Cake with Maple Bourbon Frosting

Once frosted, make sure to store your Instant Pot gingerbread cake with maple bourbon frosting in the fridge. If using an airtight container, this will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator.

This cake also freezes well! Place it in a proper freezing container and it will keep for up to three months. When serving, you can thaw it in the refrigerator and serve chilled, or warm it up to room temperature on the counter.