Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

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Holiday baking has begun. If you’re looking for festive desserts, you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m sharing my recipe for Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake, and some blogger friends are joining me to share their sweet holiday treats. I hope you brought your sweet tooth!

Tree-shaped Gingerbread Cake for Christmas

As we approach Christmas, I’m sure you’re making your list and checking it twice. And I don’t just mean your holiday gift list, I’m also talking about what confections you’ll be baking this year. That’s why my Taste of the Season blogger friends and I thought we’d come together to help you out. Today, a handful of us are sharing holiday sweets to inspire your baking. After you’ve finished here, be sure to check out the full list of bloggers and their treats at the end of this post.

Also, If you’re looking for some Christmas cookie recipe ideas, I rounded up a few of my favorites here.

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake:

For my dessert, I decided on this Christmas Tree Gingerbread cake. It’s fun, quick, and delicious, and even the most novice of bakers can handle it.

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake Holiday Dessert recipe

You might already know that I have an affinity for unique baking pans. Last year, I made this cute collection of gingerbread house cakes. I’ve also baked a skull and tombstones for Halloween. This Christmas, I thought a tree-shaped gingerbread cake would be the perfect way to celebrate.

Christmas Tree Dessert Gingerbread Cake

I opted for a rich and flavorful gingerbread cake as the base of my tree. ‘Tis the season, right? Even if you don’t have a tree pan, and only want a really good gingerbread cake recipe, this is it!

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake dessert recipe

Back to the cake pan for a minute . . . As much as I love unique pans, they can be a bit tricky. The challenge with this one was the very shallow top section of the tree. Even though I had filled that part with batter, about 15 minutes into baking I noticed that the batter had flowed back into the center of the cake. To remedy this, I simply used a spatula to move batter from the center of the cake to the top. After that, the batter stayed in place for the rest of baking.

How to Make a Gingerbread Cake:

How to make a Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

Christmas Tree Mold Gingerbread Cake

Tree-shaped Ginger Bread Cake dessert recipe

My favorite cream cheese frosting recipe, which you can find here, pairs perfectly with the spices in the gingerbread cake, so it was a natural choice. With a little green food coloring mixed in, it worked well to finish off my cake.

Frosting a Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

Christmas Tree Dessert Gingerbread Cake

I tried several ways to apply the frosting to this cake, including the use of a variety of piping tips. However, not being an experienced cake decorator, it wasn’t looking so good. I finally just decided to roughly add the frosting with a small offset spatula.

Once the frosting was n place, I lightly tapped it with the back of the spatula to make little frosting “peaks.” I thought they resembled branches.- a happy little accident!

Holiday Dessert Recipe - Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

Holiday Dessert Recipe - Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

While it’s certainly not perfect, I love the rustic, homemade look.

Before the frosting set, I added candy-coated chocolates to give to mimic colored ornaments. And because I love flocked trees, I dusted the entire thing with confectioners’ sugar for a snow-inspired finishing touch.

Gingerbread Cake - Christmas Holiday Dessert recipe

Gingerbread Cake - Christmas Holiday Dessert recipe

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake dessert recipe

Who’s ready for a slice of this delicious and beautiful gingerbread cake?

Holiday Dessert Recipe - Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake Holiday Dessert recipe

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

I really hope you enjoyed my Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake. As you can see, it’s not only a showpiece for the table but a tasty seasonal dessert. I think your friends and family will love it.

Want more Christmas dessert recipes? Try these:

Gingerbread Cake - Christmas Holiday Dessert recipe

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake Recipe:

Gingerbread Cake - Christmas Holiday Dessert recipe

Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake

Made in a tree-shaped baking pan this Gingerbread Cake is not only delicious, but will be the centerpiece of your holiday table!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, christmas, dessert, gingerbread, holiday
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 10 people

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a tree-shaped cake pan with baking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
  • With a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Then, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the molasses.
  • Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the water and starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just smooth.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the two sides of the tree mold.
  • Bake the cake 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Check on the cake about 15 minutes into baking. If necessary, use a spatula or spoon to move some of the batter from the center of the cake to fill in the top section of the pan.
  • Remove the cake from the oven. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes; then turn out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.
  • Spread a small layer of the prepared cream cheese frosting on the back of each cake to join them together to form a tree. Add a couple tablespoons of frosting to a serving dish or cake stand and set the tree in place on the frosting. Chill for 15 minutes. Use an offset spatula to roughly apply more cream cheese frosting to the cake. Tap the frosting with the back of the spatula to create texture and "peaks" in the frosting.
  • To finish, decorate with candy-coated chocolates. Then chill until the frosting is firm. Before serving, use a fine mesh sieve to sprinkle the cake with confectioners' sugar.

Notes

My Favorite Cream Cheese frosting recipe can be found HERE. You will need 1/2 batch of this recipe.

Tree-shaped Gingerbread Cake for Christmas

For additional Christmas desserts, check out these delicious recipes from my fellow Taste of the Seasons’ bloggers below. You can also grab my favorite Christmas cookie recipes here.

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

Nonna’s Famous Toffee by Ella Claire | Peppermint Fudge by Zevy Joy | Donut Hole Tree by Love Grows Wild | Chocolate Covered Cherries by anderson + grant

Peppermint Truffles by Maison de Pax | Christmas Tree Gingerbread Cake by Inspired by Charm | Gingerbread Brownies by My Sweet Savannah | Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bark by Finding Home Farms

Peppermint Smores by Nest of Posies | Classic Peppermint Bark by Nina Hendrick Design Co. | Homemade Marshmallows by Boxwood Avenue

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10 Comments

  1. I have a question…someone gave me a Christmas tree mold…but I only have one…if I only make it in this one pan, as a flat cake, would halving this recipe work??
    Or else, I guess I’d have to bake one, then the other then put them together…but not sure this one is meant to be 3-d….any advice? Novice baker here…

  2. Oh my! I love the presence of this cake!!! Stunning! The cake stand you used is genius (the base looks like the bottom of a christmas tree). I love this sooooo much that I just ordered myself a Nordicware Christmas Tree cake pan form Williams Sonoma tonight (20% off and free shipping)!

    Merry Christmas Michael

  3. This looks fantastic and delicious! I just ordered the cake pan to give this recipe a try for a party this weekend. I hope this tall cake fits in my fridge for the chilling part of the recipe! 🙂

  4. I love your Christmas tree cake. I have collected Spode Christmas dishes for years and this cake would anchor my buffet table nicely. Looks like I’ll be buying a new cake pan!