Raspberry Gingerbread Cake
This festive raspberry gingerbread cake, created by the talented Katie Stymiest (@cakedbykatie on Instagram), is warm, cozy, and perfectly balanced with bright pops of E.D.SMITH® raspberry pie filling. Rich molasses and warm spices give it classic holiday depth, while the fruity swirl adds a fresh, slightly tangy contrast that keeps every bite feeling special.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup fancy molasses (*do not use blackstrap molasses)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup orange juice, hot
- 1 can E.D.SMITH® raspberry pie filling, divided
Raspberry Buttercream
- 2 cups (454g) salted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup E.D.SMITH® raspberry pie filling
Optional
- gingerbread cookies and raspberries
Directions
Gingerbread Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This should take approximately 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg and fancy molasses and mix until fully combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary.
- Measure in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves and begin to mix on low.
- Slowly pour in the hot orange juice and continue to mix on low until just combined.
- Divide and spread the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting on a wire rack to fully cool.
Raspberry Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. This should take approximately 5-10 minutes.
- Measure in the powdered sugar and salt and mix on low until combined.
- Add in the raspberry pie filling and turn the mixer up to high and allow to beat for 5 minutes.
Cake Assembly
- Slice each cake layer in half (optional) and place one layer on a cake board, plate, and/or cake turntable and top with approximately 1 cup of frosting.
- Pipe a buttercream border around the edge of the cake layer and fill with approximately ½ cup of the raspberry pie filling.
- Repeat with the remaining cake layers and very gently apply a thin coat of buttercream to the entire cake. Chill the cake for 10-20 minutes. *If the cake feels unstable or the buttercream becomes too soft at any point while stacking, stop and chill the cake and frosting for 15 minutes.
- Cover the cake with a final layer of buttercream and smooth the sides and top with a cake smoother and/or offset spatula.
- Decorate the cake as you please. Enjoy! I piped buttercream open-star dollops around the top of the cake with a Wilton 8B piping tip and placed gingerbread cookies and fresh raspberries around the dollops.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
