Starbucks gingerbread loaf is absolutely divine. The thing I love most is that it contains all of those flavors that you associate with cozy days. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, even a hint of apple! And do you know what makes it even more decadent? A thick helping of sweet cream cheese frosting. Pair that with a coffee, and you’ve got the perfect afternoon. In this secret copycat recipe, I’m going to show you how to make it and give you plenty of pointers and alternative ideas.
How to Make Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf
I make my homemade Starbucks gingerbread loaf in two parts. First, you make the loaf itself, and then you create the frosting separately before spreading it lavishly at the end of the recipe.
We start by getting the oven nice and hot. By getting the oven up to temperature, you create the ideal conditions to get a nice toasty exterior giving way to this moist and delicious cake within.
When I’m making cake batter, I prefer to use a mixer (what can I say, the easier, the better). I find that using an electric mixer gives me a much better result. It’s quicker and, dare I say, a little cleaner too. I cream butter and sugar together to start. This is the trick to getting a light and fluffy cake. Make sure it is full of air and really pale.
From there, it is just a case of folding in the remaining ingredients before baking to perfection!
The cream cheese frosting is super easy to make. If I have any leftover, I like to serve it alongside breakfast the next day. There are only three ingredients in the frosting. We have cream cheese, a little vanilla, and some powder sugar. See! I told you it was simple.
This is 1 of 25 amazing Starbucks copycat recipes that we have available for you to recreate on our site.
Tips and Tricks
- If you feel like you want to ‘pimp’ your Starbucks gingerbread loaf slightly, here’s a neat trick. In our homemade recipe, we use powdered ginger. However, if you can get it, go for candied stem ginger instead. Once finely chopped and added to the batter, these sweet little shards are a welcome surprise with each mouthful.
- It always pays to sift your dry ingredients before adding them to the batter. You’ll make them easier to incorporate and mix, and the best bit is that you won’t have any lumps.
- As I said above, the key to amazing and fluffy cake batter occurs right at the start of the recipe. Make sure you give your butter and eggs a really good beating. You’ll be able to tell when they are ready as you’ll end up with a really pale and airy butter and sugar mix. If you are mixing by hand, it is worth spending an extra 5 minutes making sure that you get the right consistency
- Here’s a top tip. Don’t grease your loaf tin, just line it with baking parchment. This stops your cake from sticking, and it is really easy to remove it once the gingerbread loaf is cooked. Just give the paper a little wiggle and lift on each side, and it should come out in one.
- For the frosting, if I am being rather posh, I like to use fresh vanilla instead of vanilla essence. Vanilla pods are really easy to find nowadays. Just scrape the seeds from one pod in place of vanilla essence. Your mouth will thank you.
Conclusion
The hardest part about making our Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf is deciding what you will drink with it. I don’t know why but I find a pumpkin spiced latte goes down a real treat with this cake. I guess it is all those wintery spices? What’s your favorite Starbucks drink and cake combo? Let me know in the comments.