Easy German Gingerbread Cake (Gewürzkuchen)

three slices on german gingerbread cake on a chopping board that sits on a red towel.

5 from 6 votes

Easy German Gingerbread Cake (Gewürzkuchen)

This lebkuchen spiced and moist German Gingerbread cake is a variation of the classic Lebkuchen cookies. A traditional Lebkuchen cake, that is quick and easy to put together as a family holiday classic for Christmas.

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 583kcal

Author by Marita Sinden

Equipment

baking tray (30 x 40 cm / 12 x 17 inches)

Ingredients

4 eggs medium size, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cups butter at room temperature
1 ⅓ cups ground almonds
3 cups all-purpose flour (Germany type 405, UK Plain flour, USA Pastry Flour)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
⅓ cups unsweetend cocoa
1 cup milk
4 teaspoon gingerbread spice For the most authentic flavour I recommend our homemade lebkuchen spice

For the glaze

5 oz dark chocolate glaze
½ cups whole almonds

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180°C or 356°F top to bottom heat.
Line a baking tray (30 x 40 cm / 12 x 17 inches) (affiliate link) with baking parchment and grease the edges with butter.
Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the eggs with the sugar, vanilla extract, and butter until creamy. (This should take about 5 minutes.)
4 eggs, 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar , 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅔ cups butter
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa in a bowl. Sieve the flour mixture into the dough. This will make your gingerbread cake light and fluffy, adding air to the dough. Pour in the milk, gingerbread spice, and ground almonds. Mix until you achieve a smooth dough.
3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder , 1 pinch salt, ⅓ cups unsweetend cocoa , 1 cup milk, 4 teaspoon gingerbread spice , 1 ⅓ cups ground almonds
Pour or spread the dough with a pallet knife into the prepared baking tray. Bake in the oven for approximately 25 minutes. The exact baking time varies by oven. To check if the dough is done, prick a skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean, it is done.
Leave to cool completely before decorating.
In the meantime, place a little water (500 ml/ 16 fl oz)in a saucepan and add the raw almonds. Bring the water to a boil and cook the almonds for around 2 minutes before removing them using a sieve. Rinse in cold water. The skin of the almonds should now simply slip off.
Melt the dark chocolate glaze in a water bath or microwave. Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled cake and spread evenly with a pallet knife.
5 oz dark chocolate glaze
Before the glaze hardens, place the almonds in an X formation on the dark chocolate.
½ cups whole almonds
Leave to cool. Once the cake is cooled, slice it into rectangles or squares.

Notes

I strongly recommend you to refer to the full post for step by step recipe photos.

Recipe Variations

Instead of baking this cake in a sheet tray, you can use a loaf form. You will need to bake the cake for longer, approx an hour.
Replace the ground almonds with ground hazelnuts if you wish
To make the cake extra chocolaty, you can add 100 g of dark chocolate drops into the dough.
Instead of the dark chocolate glaze, you can also prepare a lebkuchen icing. Here you used 150 g icing /confectioners sugar (sieved), 1 teaspoon Lebkuchen spice and 5 tablespoons of milk. Mix together and you will get a lovely white glaze.
Decorate the cake with festive sugar sprinkles instead of almonds. The almonds are the more traditional way of decorating them.

Storage Instructions

This cake will stay good for up to three days. Store in the fridge or at room temperature in an airtight container. So it is suitable for preparing ahead. At least a day in advance, and your guests will still enjoy this moist pound cake.

This German gingerbread cake is perfect for freezing. In an airtight container, it will last up to three months.

Nutrition