Joy the Baker

Gingerbread Speculoos and Dark Chocolate Cake

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Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

You can’t show up to my family holiday gatherings with just any dessert.  There better not be a wiff of boxed cake mix nor a hint of shortening in the pie crust.  All real.  All butter.  This is a place where we come correct!

I come from a legacy of legendary home bakers.  Am I bragging?  You bet your sweet pants I am!  My mom makes the best Peanut Butter Balls (you might call them Buckeyes, right?).  My dad (as I’ve told you ad nauseum) is known for his Sweet Potato Pie.  My grandmother makes the best Banana Bread in the entire world… she probably invented it, so.. there’s that.

Believe it or not, I’m feel like I’m still trying to find my footing in my family when it comes to legendary baking. I’m not sure what my specialty will be, so I’m looking for a bit of inspiration in the holiday season.  The inspiration for this holiday gingerbread cake comes from GODIVA Chocolate. GODIVA has chocolate-legend status on lockdown (amiright?). This particular cake was inspired by GODIVA’s Gingerbread Cookie Legacy Truffle:  gingerbread spices, and Speculoos mousse wrapped in chocolate.  Yes… someone finally worked Speculoos into a decadent chocolate candy.  Thank heavens.  Seriously.

This Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate really ups the ante. It’s perfect for the holidays.  Actually… it’s perfect for most every night between now and late February.  This cake might just be the one that makes a name for me. Fingers crossed (with a mouth full of chocolate).

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

Let’s get down to business.

We’re melting the butter, cracking the eggs, and rifling through the back of the cupboard for the molasses.

Sidenote:  Would you believe that my dad (legend) puts molasses on his pancakes instead of maple syrup?  I put molasses in my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies… I need a molasses buffer.

Next, let’s get at these spices!

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

We’re basically just going to empty out the spice drawer.

For this cake we’re going to need ground ginger, cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, and just a hint of ground cloves.

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

Look at those bubbles!  This cake is ready for the oven.

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

This cake bakes up in an 8×8-inch square pan.  It’s nice and thick.  Dense but still moist.

While the cake is still warm, we stir up a few big spoonfuls of Speculoos spread and melt some dark chocolate.

Wait… do we need to talk about Speculoos spread?  Speculoos spread is made from the Speculoos biscuit.  It’s sweet and spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.  If you take a spoon to the spread… you’re in trouble.  Don’t even do it.

In this rendition we’re spreading Speculoos on top of the slightly warm gingerbread cake.  Chocolate too!  GODIVA inspired, for real.

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

The slightly warm cake will make the Speculoos spread and sink into the cake.  Yep.  We’re on the right track!

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

Melt the dark chocolate, we’re not done yet! I used GODIVA’s 72% dark chocolate… because, delicious!

Gingerbread Cake with Speculoos and Dark Chocolate

I placed the melted dark chocolate in a small ziplock bag and cut off the tip  That’s how we get these pretty lines.

This gingerbread cake is the ultimate holiday decadence.  The cake is thick and spiced.  The molasses adds a deep richness that is just perfect for the winter months.  It’s incredible!  Speculoos adds another layer of sweetness and spice.  Totally decadent and over-the-top with melted chocolate.

I’m really proud of this gingerbread cake.  GODIVA didn’t steer us wrong!  This could be part of my baking legacy.

Gingerbread Speculoos and Dark Chocolate Cake

makes 1- 8×8-inch cake

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup unsulfured molasses

3/4 cup hot water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup Speculoos spread

3 ounces dark chocolate, melted (I used Godiva 72% dark chocolate)

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.  Line with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper as well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, baking powder, and salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, and molasses.  Whisk until smooth and well combined.  Add the hot water and vanilla and carefully stir to incorporate.

Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients.  Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to combine.  When no pockets of flour remain, and the batter is entirely smooth and silky, pour into the prepared pan.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for 2o minutes before removing to a wire rack to prepare to frost.

When cake has cooled, but is still just warm to the touch, gently spread with Speculoos (or Cookie Butter from Trader Joes).  Be gentle, as to not tear the cake.  The Speculoos will begin to melt against the warm cake as it is spread.  Great!  When entire cake is covered and Speculoos is dripping down the sides of the cake, drizzle generously with the melted dark chocolate.  I placed my melted chocolate in a small ziplock bag and cut a tiny piece of the tip off, creating a makesift pastry bag.

Place cake in the fridge to set the Speculoos and dark chocolate for 30 minutes before serving.  

This post brought to you by GODIVA Chocolate.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. ezachos

    This is one of my spectacular standbys, never fails to come out well AND to knock our socks off. I want to make it for Thanksgiving, but need to do my dessert prep ahead of time. Do you think this would freeze well?

    Reply

  2. ezachos

    One of the reasons I welcome winter every year, is because I have a good excuse to make this incredible cake! Definitely part of your baking legacy, and now part of mine. it is truly, truly wonderful.

    Reply

  3. ezachos

    This is it. The only non-chocolate dessert EVER that I consdier truly worth any penance I have to pay afterward. When colder weather comes, this cake is perfect (plus nobody else brings THIS to the holiday potluck. You can be a star!)

    Reply

  5. D

    I just made it for a birthday tomorrow and I can’t wait. I’ve been licking the cookie butter dripping down the sides and scraping off the gingerbread bottom from the pan (I didn’t put parchment down and it came out fine). Who knew there was such deliciousness as cookie butter. Thank you.

    Reply

  7. Kelly

    Does anyone know how far in advance this can be made? I am thinking you could make the cake, wrap it well, and then frost it just before serving – but then the cake won’t be warm for the speculoos spread to melt into the cake…

    Reply

  8. Maureen

    Oh, my! I made this for a dear friend’s birthday luncheon today, and it was delicious. We all marveled at the depth of flavor and the perfect texture. It was rich, spicy, sweet, and decadent. Love it!

    Reply

  9. KRISHNA

    Speculoos and gingerbread. Joy, I think you just stole my heart right here. I simply CANNOT wait to try as I have a fresh jar of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter right in my pantry.

    Reply

  10. Marta

    Omg I’m so baking this one!! Just a couple of questions:
    Sweetened dark chocolate I assume? And, would it change a lot if instead of molasses, I used maple syrup?
    Thanks Joy, you’re awesome!

    Reply

  14. Angela R

    I have always put molasses on pancakes too! My mom taught me how to make molasses butter as a kid for biscuits; honeybutter doesn’t hold a candle. This cake looks amazing!

    Reply

  16. dishnthekitchen

    Funny how fate works. I just bought 5 jars of speculoos and was wondering what to do with them. Do you think I could make this recipe into cupcakes? It would just be more appropriate for a function I’m going to this weekend.
    BTW the fresh ginger cake from David Lebovitz is to die for as well!

    Reply

  17. Tracy

    Maybe if I stopped eating all my cookie butter out of the jar I would have some left to make a wonderful dessert like this one! Must. Find. Motivation!

    Reply

  20. foodtraveler11

    There is no recipe for marriage. In fact we have heard a lot of successful stories about it. And definitely our parent’s journey is one of those inspiring love stories we’ve ever heard. Anyway, your article is very inspiring. Love the pictures, the food and the story of your family. And I’ve learned a lot from it, it’s truly worth my time reading it.

    Reply

  21. Nidhi

    Hi Joy,
    I am a regular reader of your blog because I like your recipes.

    I read this post in office yesterday and couldn’t wait to get home to start baking this fab cake.

    I made a few deviations of my own – I used 1 1/4 cup of whole wheat and 1 cup of flour instead of 2 1/4 cup of flour. I didn’t have molasses at hand, so used jaggery/brown sugar instead. I also increased the ginger to 2 tsp.

    The cake turned out fab and the house smelt so nice.Thanks for the great recipe.

    Reply

  27. Beth

    I can’t believe I’ve never heard of Speculoos because it seems incredibly good. Love that you spread it on top of a cake! Pretty sure you’re a baking legend already. :)

    Reply

  28. Melissa @ Treats With a Twist

    Legendary Baking should be your middle name! You’re crazy! If you get discouraged…you can always bring a big thing of kettlecorn to dinner bc we all know you can rock that s***! But seriously, this looks AMAZing! I’m dying over the melted speculoos!

    Reply

  38. Sav

    I’m looking forward to trying this cake. I will leave off the chocolate and spread though. I’m just interested in a really good, moist gingerbread cake. I guess I’m a little old school, or maybe just old. Ha ha. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  46. Andj

    Whenever I use molasses I think of my grandfather who used it allll the time. He even mixed into milk (think chocolate milk…but molasses) and the smell of it just takes me back. Is speculoos similar to biscoff? That stuff is dangerous

    Reply

    • Shannon Skinner

      Yes, I have never heard of that either… would be nice if these people making these recipe blogs would say what the stuff is and if they can get it all over the world… damn arrogant if you ask me

      Reply

        • Jan

          Shannon perhaps you need to learn how to Google? just because you don’t know it doesn’t justify you calling the blogger arrogant..

          Reply

        • Nadia

          Ha! Amazing. Also, yeah, Shannon! Learn to use Google. And Amazon. Joy, I think you’re the bee’s knees, even (especially!) with your uppity cookie spread ;D!

          Reply

        • Alicia

          I made this recipe a couple years ago and loved it! I was just looking it up to make for a dinner party this weekend and saw this comment. I didn’t think I could adore you anymore, but this was amazing! Rude, snarky people on the internet need to be called out on their bs. Would she talk like that to you in person. What the hell is wrong with people? They get on a computer and lose all sense of decency.

          Reply

  49. lindsay

    Did you see that Trader Joe’s started carrying a speculoos AND cocoa spread? It’s called “Cookie and Cocoa Swirl” and I nearly fainted when I saw it in the store last week. I asked an employee about it, she said they started carrying it last month.

    Reply

  51. zoe

    Hey joy is there a substitute you can recommend for internationals? Would love to try it but south Africa doesn’t stock the speculoos!

    Reply

  57. Belinda@themoonblushbaker

    Damn girl you got it going on right here!
    Cookie butter, ginger bread and chocolate; I could definitely face palm that. That topping is so easy but I swear I could lick it off the screen.

    With recipes like this I am sure it is in your blood ( no apologies needed).

    Reply

  58. Amy

    Oh my goodness, Joy, This looks amazing! I am making your Texas sheet cake for my husband’s birthday tomorrow-his request-but I am tempted to try this instead!

    Reply

  62. Chelsea

    that first shot… JOY! (imagine that’s in all caps). I’m a sucker for a good chocolate drizzle, and though I’d never considered pairing chocolate with gingerbread, now it seems like the only reasonable thing to do. I’ll be in the kitchen…

    Reply

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