This whimsical Gingerbread Forest Cake can serve double duty as a centerpiece on your holiday table, and your delicious holiday dessert! It's impressive, yet super easy to make.
I'm hoping this fun recipe for this snow-covered Gingerbread Forest Cake will inspire you to play with your food this holiday season.
This charming holiday gingerbread cake will delight both young and old alike.
Table of Contents Found Here
- The ingredient list:
- Kitchen tools and equipment needed:
- How this gingerbread forest cake came to be:
- Special Note about cutting the trees and decorating the cake:
- Can this holiday Bundt cake be made in advance?
- Serving suggestions:
- Additional whimsical Christmas recipes:
- Printable Recipe Card
- Please comment if you've made this recipe.
This recipe was originally shared in 2014. This post has been updated with additional information, including a recipe card complete with nutritional information, but the recipe itself has remained unchanged.
The ingredient list:
*Please note that the exact measurements along with a "shop the recipe" feature from Instacart and Walmart is available inside the printable recipe card.
- all-purpose flour
- ground ginger
- ground cinnamon
- kosher salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
- butter
- boiling water
- dark brown sugar
- molasses
- eggs
- ginger paste
- pure vanilla extract
- confectioners sugar
- plastic deer or other assorted animals
- tall trees or bottle- brush trees
Kitchen tools and equipment needed:
- mixing bowls
- whisk
- spatula
- large glass measuring cup
- measuring cups and spoons
- bundt pan
- baking spray
- sugar shaker or sieve
- wire cutters (optional for trimming trees)
- cooling rack
How this gingerbread forest cake came to be:
Many years ago I did something similar to this Gingerbread Mountain Cake and used it for our Christmas eve centerpiece.
This year I knew that I wanted to recreate the design but in a simpler way. Below is a picture of the one I had done previously.
I loved the bottle brush trees that I used on the cake pictured above.
This year, however, I found the tall trees that I thought would make a very fun and dramatic statement, so I decided to use them in place of the bottle brush trees.
The choice is yours, of course. Use what you have, or use whatever type of trees you see fit for your gingerbread forest cake.
If this Snow Covered Gingerbread Forest Cake is something you're interested in replicating, you can find the tall, snow-covered trees, along with little plastic deer, in the toy train department of your local hobby and craft store. And you can easily purchase them on-line.
From there, the rest is left up to your imagination.
Or, you can even make the gingerbread cake without the forest embellishment, as it is a delicious cake all on its own!
Special Note about cutting the trees and decorating the cake:
Depending on the kind of trees you choose to work with, wire cutters may be needed.
Be careful cutting the branches of the trees and do not let children attempt this task unless supervised by an adult.
Hand strength is required so little children should not be allowed to cut the trees.
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Can this holiday Bundt cake be made in advance?
Yes!
You can make this up to 2 days in advance of serving, and store it, covered, in the refrigerator.
For best flavor, allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving.
Serving suggestions:
You can either serve it plain, or with the following toppings.
- whipped cream
- ice cream (your favorite flavor)
- caramel sauce
- chocolate sauce
- crushed gingersnap cookies to gild the lily
Additional whimsical Christmas recipes:
*Gingerbread House Recipe and Full Tutorial (shown below)
This Gingerbread House Recipe and Tutorial is a comprehensive instruction along with tips and tricks so you can learn from our successes, as well as our mistakes.
*Rudolph the BREAD-Nosed Reindeer (pictured below)
Give your homemade bread baking skills a whimsical twist by making this Whole Wheat Rudolph the Bread-Nosed Reindeer. Or, you can use store-bought frozen bread dough and follow the instructions for forming and shaping.
*Grinch Guacamole (shown below)
With a few simple ingredients and some easy instructions, you can warm the hearts of your family and friends with this gloriously easy to make realistic looking Grinch Guacamole.
*Gingerbread Mountain Cake (shown below) THIS IS THE PLACE!!
When you make today's recipe (and I hope that you will), I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to come back and give it a star rating along with a comment on why you rated as you did.
Search engines such as Google appreciate comments and ratings and, in turn, will show my recipes to more people. Please look for the pink star rating box within the printable recipe card. Thank you!!
Printable Recipe Card
Gingerbread Forest Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste found in the fresh herb section of the produce department
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- confectioners sugar for garnish
- Assorted trees and plastic deer for decorating optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the cut-up butter. Whisk in the light brown sugar, molasses, ginger paste, and vanilla extract.
- Add the eggs to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk well to combine.
- Pour the gingerbread batter evenly into a prepared bundt pan sprayed with baking spray.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove to a wire rack. Cool 15 minutes and carefully turn the cake out of the pan to cool completely.
- Place the cake on a serving plate and dust the top with confectioner's sugar.
- Decorate the gingerbread mountain with assorted trees and deer.
- *Note - The decorations are NOT edible! Please remove the trees and animals before slicing and eating!
Nutrition
I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's easy gingerbread Bundt cake recipe as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Should you have any questions or comments regarding anything you've seen on my site, please don't hesitate to reach out to contact me. It is always my distinct pleasure to get back with you just as soon as I possibly can!
Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you will come back and visit me often. Please know that there is always room for you around my kitchen table!
Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
You are so clever with all your ideas, I'm sure everyone is excited to see what you create for Christmas each year.
Renée says
You are so very sweet, Karen! Thank you. As a matter of fact, I do have some fun ideas up my sleeve for this year.
Stay tuned!
Take good care,
Renee
Denay DeGuzman says
This is the cutest gingerbread cake I've seen all season! It's beautiful!
Angela {Mind Over Batter} says
This is your centerpiece?! IT IS breathtaking!! So whimsical. So beautiful! I'd slap anyone's hand who'd try to eat it. LOL.
Aly ~ Cooking In Stilettos says
Renee - this is stunning!!! What a gorgeous centerpiece for Christmas!
Katerina @ Diethood says
That's your centerpiece?! How beautiful!! I want a seat at your Christmas table!!
Erin Dee says
Wow. This is impressive! It looks absolutely amazing. And so much better than the candle I put out as decoration. 😉
The Food Hunter says
Very impressive!
Nancy Piran says
This is such a great idea! So festive and I bet the cake is amazing!
Brenda@SugarFreeMom says
The cake is so whimsical, I love it!
Paula-bell'alimento says
What a gorgeous Christmas dessert!
Kirsten/ComfortablyDomestic says
I *love* it! What a gorgeous presentation, Renee! I much prefer the tall trees because they're elegant, yet haunting.
Martha @ A Family Feast says
This cake absolutely looks great - and I LOVE how you've decorated it!
Paula says
This is quite pretty Renee as was your own version you did years ago. They both make nice centerpieces and great conversation starters!
Cookin' Canuck says
That is just so darn pretty, Renee! What a special dessert for the Christmas table.
Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez says
I absolutely adore this, Renee! I prefer these trees (though I like the bottle brush ones, too) - I love how the deer look like they are in a winter forest. So pretty.
Sue/the view from great island says
This is magical, I would love to have it on my holiday dessert table!
Beth Baumgartner says
This is SO cute!!!