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This pumpkin gingerbread cake is dark, sticky and full of warming spice, with pumpkin keeping the crumb beautifully soft and a whisky glaze that sinks into the sponge. Serve it in little squares or warm with custard for a proper pudding. The ginger, treacle and dark brown sugar are firmly in charge. Bonfire Night in one bite!
“I have made this cake several times n. I keep purred pumpk in the freezer especially for making it. Very popular with the family.”
Nicky’s Notes
I’ve only really started to like gingerbread cake in the last few years. Despite the fact that I’m 38 (OMG that looks so much worse when I write it down!!), I only feel like I’ve grown into being a proper adult in the last few years.
Perhaps it was starting the blog and then trying to turn it into a business – making my own decisions about the direction of my work, rather than having objectives and targets filtered down through upper management.
I’m blaming (in a good way) having a child-at-heart husband and two crazy adorable kids for keeping me young.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredient Spotlight: Treacle
Black treacle or molasses? For readers outside the UK, regular unsulphured molasses is the closest straightforward substitute for black treacle.
I wouldn’t use blackstrap molasses here. It has a considerably more bitter, intense flavour and can dominate a cake like this.
🧑🍳 Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan) and line your baking tin. Whisk the melted butter with treacle, honey, sugar, eggs, milk and pumpkin purée, then fold in the flour, bicarb, spices and stem ginger. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, then spoon the whisky glaze over the hot cake so it sinks in and turns sticky. Cool, trim the edges and slice into squares.
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Pin ItRecipe Tips
- Pour the glaze over while the cake is still hot. That residual heat helps the glaze work its way into the sponge. If you see it collecting in one area, gently spread it back over the cake rather than assuming you’ve done something wrong.
- The glaze gradually settles in and becomes stickier as the cake cools.
🎃 Pumpkin in a cake??
Pumpkin recipes aren’t really a huge thing in the UK – and in fact canned pumpkin can be difficult to source in smaller shops. I really wanted to make a recipe with it, and it worked to make the sponge beautifully tender.
If you can’t find canned pumpkin, or don’t want to use it, you can simply leave it out and add an extra 120mls (1/2 cup) of milk. The whisky drizzle will still ensure you still get a lovely, tender, flavourful cake.
Make it Alcohol free
- Word of warning, the whisky isn’t cooked into the cake. It’s part of the glaze on top, so it does have alcohol in it!
- If you don’t want to use whisky, you can replace it with spiced ginger cordial or even a little water mixed with some a flavoured extract – such as vanilla, cocoa, toffee or even rum extract (<–affiliate link).
So this pumpkin gingerbread is the perfect afternoon treat. It makes a large batch, so it’s great to wrap in some foil and take out to bonfire night, or even to serve warm with custard when you get home.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake with Sticky Whisky Glaze
Ingredients
- 225 g (1 cup minus 1 tbsp) melted unsalted butter
- 170 g (1/2 cup) black treacle
- 170 g (1/2 cup) honey
- 175 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) dark brown muscovado sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
- 300 g (1 1/3 cups minus 1 tsp) pumpkin puree If you don’t want to use pumpkin in this recipe simply leave it out and add an extra 120ml (1/2 cup) milk to the mixture.
- 360 g (3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsps ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 2 tbsp finely chopped stem ginger optional
For the glaze:
- 5 tbsp milk
- 5 tbsp whisky if you want to make this cake alcohol-free, replace the whisky with half water, half ginger cordial, or water mixed with 1 tsp of your favourite extract – such as vanilla, cocoa, toffee, or alcohol-free rum extract
- 180 g (1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp) confectioners’ sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F (fan). Line a 24cmx30cm (9 1/2 x 11 1/2-inch) baking tin with baking parchment (enough so that a little hangs over the sides).
- In a bowl, mix the melted butter with the treacle, honey, and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves, then add in the eggs, milk, and pumpkin puree. Whisk together until combined.225 g (1 cup minus 1 tbsp) melted unsalted butter, 170 g (1/2 cup) black treacle, 170 g (1/2 cup) honey, 175 g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) dark brown muscovado sugar, 3 large eggs, 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk, 300 g (1 1/3 cups minus 1 tsp) pumpkin puree
- Add in the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and stem ginger. Fold together with a spoon until combined.360 g (3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsps ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground cloves, 2 tbsp finely chopped stem ginger
- Pour the mixture into the baking dish, then place in the oven and cook for 45-55 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Take out of the oven.
- Whisk together the milk, whisky, and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and spoon it all over the hot cake. If you find parts of the glaze start to pool, use a spoon to try to spread it out a bit until it sinks into the cake. If you find you have a few dots of unmixed confectioners’ sugar on top, just spread with the back of a spoon and they should disperse.5 tbsp milk, 5 tbsp whisky , 180 g (1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp) confectioners’ sugar
- The glaze will sink in and get stickier on top as the cake cools. Once cool, remove the cake from the baking dish and peel back the baking parchment. Slice off the very edges of the cake (they’ll probably be soaked in the glaze mixture, and may look a little ugly), then slice the cake, using a sharp knife, into 30 squares.
- Serve right away, or cover and keep at room temperature for up to two days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This pumpkin gingerbread cake recipe was first posted in Oct 2017. Updated since with recipe improvements and for housekeeping reasons.
🧁 More Amazing Autumn/Fall Bakes
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I have made this cake several times n. I keep purred pumpk in the freezer especially for making it. Very popular with the family.
Excellent