Moist marbled gingerbread pound cake with a brown sugar vanilla pound cake, gingerbread pound cake & orange icing.
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marbled gingerbread pound cake
Hello hello! Today we’re taking all the delicious flavors of spiced gingerbread cake and putting them into a moist, buttery pound cake. The pound cake base is made with brown sugar rather than the standard granulated sugar to make it even more moist, flavorful, and delicious. We’ll then add some molasses, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to part of the cake batter to create a flavorful gingerbread swirl throughout the cake. We’ll finish that deliciousness off with an orange icing to perfectly compliment the ginger!
why you’ll love this marbled gingerbread pound cake
- Brown sugar pound cake: the brown sugar pound cake is super moist & slightly molasses-y.
- Gingerbread pound cake: the gingerbread pound cake has a bunch of delicious molasses & gingerbread spice flavor.
- Orange icing: orange is just a perfect addition that brightens up and compliments the gingerbread.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before starting the recipe.
Mix the cake batter carefully:
It is super important to not overmix the cake batter or you end up with a tough and chewy cake rather than a light and moist cake. When alternating between adding the wet and dry ingredients, be sure to only mix just until the ingredient is fully combined and no more.
how to tell when your pound cake is done.
It’s always a little game with telling if your loaf is done. Sometimes it will look done, but it’s still super wet in the center, and now that you’ve opened the oven door, you risk the loaf collapsing in the middle which is never desirable. I recommend waiting until at least 50 minutes to start checking for doneness. If the cake jiggles when you move it, it’s not ready to be checked on yet. When checking for doneness, you’ll want to take a long toothpick and stick it down the exact center of the loaf. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs, you’re good to take it out! If it’s still a little wet, put the loaf back in the oven, checking in 5-minute intervals for doneness.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for marbled gingerbread pound cake
pound cake:
- All purpose flour: gives the cake structure.
- Baking powder: helps the cake rise. It’s not in a standard pound cake but we’ll use it for a little extra lift to make it lighter.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cake and adding flavor. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter.
- Dark brown sugar: for sweetening the cake and keeping it moist. The sugar also helps aerate the butter to give this cake its rise. Light brown sugar will work as a great substitute here as well, just note that the cake may appear a bit lighter in color and will have a little less of that molasses-y taste throughout.
- Eggs: for binding, moisture, and leavening.
- Vanilla: for flavor.
- Sour cream: adds moisture and makes the cake tender. I recommend full fat for the best texture.
gingerbread swirl:
- Molasses: make sure you are using unsulphured molasses here.
- Ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg: for the gingerbread spices. You can use your own blend of gingerbread spice or a pre-made blend as well.
orange Icing:
- Powdered sugar: the base of the icing.
- Orange juice: freshly squeezed will bring the best flavor, but any orange juice will do!
how to make marbled gingerbread pound cake
Below you’ll find a few pictures of the process of making this gingerbread pound cake. The full recipe is at the end of the blog post!
- Beat together the butter and dark brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the sour cream and vanilla.
- Mix in the dry ingredients just until no flour streaks remain.
- Remove 1 1/2 c. of cake batter from the bowl and place it into another bowl. To the 1 1/2 c. of batter, stir in the molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Layer the vanilla and gingerbread batters in a parchment-lined loaf pan.
- Use a knife to swirl the batters together then bake!
marbled gingerbread pound cake
recipe q&a
what size loaf pan do I need?
I used an 8×4″ metal loaf pan but you can also use a 9×5″. Just note that your pound cake may take a little less time to bake in a 9×5″ pan. I recommend against using a glass loaf pan but if that’s all you have on hand, note that the baking time may significantly increase.
can I double this recipe?
Of course! Just double all the ingredients and bake them in two loaf pans.
How to store pound cake
Keep the cake stored in an airtight container at room temperature. It will taste the best on the day it’s baked, but will keep well for up to 3 days.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Marbled Gingerbread Pound Cake
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- 226 g unsalted butter room temperature (1 c.)
- 210 g dark brown sugar (1 c.)
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 120 g sour cream room temperature (½ c.)
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 240 g all purpose flour (2 c.)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
Gingerbread Swirl
- 50 g molasses (3 tbsp.)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
Orange Icing
- 180 g powdered sugar (1 ½ c.)
- 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Butter and line an 8×4" loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl.) Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes.
- With the mixer still running, beat in the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds before adding in the next egg.
- Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed just until the flour is completely incorporated.
Gingerbread Swirl
- Remove about 1 ½ c. of batter and pour it into a small bowl.
- Add in the molasses, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Gently fold the ingredients into the batter until well combined.
- Layer the pound cake into the prepared loaf pan. Pour ⅓ of the vanilla pound cake batter into the pan, then top it with ½ of the gingerbread batter.
- Add in half of the remaining vanilla batter, followed by the rest of the cinnamon batter then the rest of the vanilla batter. Use a knife to gently swirl the batters together in the pan.
- Bake the cake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
Orange Icing
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice. Add in more orange juice if desired for a thinner icing.
- Once the cake has come to room temperature, pour the icing over it. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Molasses aren’t available in my country. Is it fine to just leave it out, or can it be easily substituted with some maple syrup, dark brown sugar, or similar?
Hi! You can substitute it with an equal amount of dark brown sugar! Just note that it will be a bit lighter in color and flavor.
Here in Germany you can rarely buy something like this. But you can replace it with sugar beet syrup.
Hi, this recipe looks delicious! Would it possibly work for muffins as well?
Hi, I haven’t tried baking this recipe in a muffin tin but it would come out closer to a cupcake rather than a muffin! I’d love to know how it turns out if you try it! 🙂
Hi there! I’m really excited to try this recipe out, but I was wondering if you think it would work to bake it in a Bundt pan?
Thanks! Xo
Hi! I haven’t tried this in a bundt pan but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! If you’re using a smaller bundt pan you won’t have to make any changes, but if you have a larger bundt pan you’ll probably want to multiply the ingredients by 1.5 to not end up with a super short bundt!