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three slices on german gingerbread cake on a chopping board that sits on a red towel.
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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 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 583kcal
Author Marita

Ingredients

For the glaze

  • 150 g dark chocolate glaze
  • 50 g whole almonds

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 handmixer or stand mixer combine the eggs with the sugar, vanilla sugar, butter and mix until creamy. (This should take about 5 minutes)
  • Combine the flour, baking powder (affiliate link), cocoa in a bowl. Using a flour sieve, sieve the flour mixture into the dough. This will make your gingerbread cake light and fluffy, as it adds air to the dough. Pour in the milk and add the salt, lebkuchen spice / gingerbread spice and ground almonds. Mix until you achieve a smooth dough.
  • Pour or spread the dough with a pallet knife into the prepared baking tray. Bake in the oven for approximatley 25 minutes. 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 completley 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 with a sieve. Rinse in cold water. The skin of the almonds should now simply slip off.
  • Melt the dark chocolate glaze in a waterbath. Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled cake, and spread evenly with a pallet knife.
  • Before the glaze hardens, place the almonds in an X formation on the dark chocolate (see image). Leave to cool. Once the cake is cooled you can slice the cakes 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

Calories: 583kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 130mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 526IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 183mg | Iron: 4mg