There is nothing like coming home from a hard day of school to a slice of Gingerbread Cake. Even better is a slice of Gingerbread Cake with a dollop of Lemon Hard Sauce. 
And maybe a hot cup of tea.
My brother would be peeling the tape a little off of his and then he would stealthily try to re-tape it. We were stinkers. (Sorry mom!) Mmmm. And then that smell would waft throughout the house. The rich smell of ginger mixed with cinnamon and other spices. I didn’t know the other spices names yet. I was too little. 
Gingerbread Cake
serves approximately 12
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
1 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 large eggs, room temperature,lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-9-inch cake pan; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light. Beat in brown sugar until fluffy. Next, beat in molasses and grated ginger, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Finally, beat in eggs.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, (approximately 30 to 35 minutes). Let cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Serve with the Lemon Hard Sauce or a nice dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
slightly adapted recipe Martha Stewart
Lemon Hard Sauce
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp lemon zest
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/12/ cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract.
In a medium sized bowl, on medium-high speed beat the softened butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice until just creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla into the bowl in small doses and beat until it is nice and fluffy.
Cake Duchess is where you can follow the baking adventures of me! Hi! I'm Lora, a mom of two cuties in South Florida. I got into all this baking mess because of them. 
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
As if you read my mind. Just visited your blog yesterday to look if you posted a new recipe… and here you did just that, all for me?!
Looks like a cake that will go great with my tea!! Shulie
My mouth is watering…seriously, yum.
wow….the lemon hard sauce on that flavorful gingerbead cake is almost too much to handl….almost…..I would love to have been there while it was baking…oh how I must have smelled incredible!!
Dennis
Yum gingerbread! And the sauce looks divine!
Love it, the lemon hard sauce is a must!
I can’t decide which is more wonderfully tempting – the simple sugar dusting or the lemon hard sauce. Think I’ll have to try both
What a lovely cake recipe. I’ll be saving this one.
I just love gooey gingerbread – never had it with a lemon sauce before. And Lemon Hard Sauce? Looks scrumptious!
Wow this cake looks so yummy! I love the gingerbread and lemon combo too. That sounds so scrumptious!
Mmmm that looks yummy!
It’s the perfect time of year for gingerbread! I can’t wait to veganize this recipe and try it!
Oh, yum, that’s delicious! I think I would probably lick the lemon sauce off of every piece before eating the entire cake!
i love this gingerbread cake!! kisses from tuscany
Mmmm gingerbread cake, you just know I LOVE your cake!
What a great idea to make lemon hard sauce to put on top. I have to try out the hard sauce, it sounds incredible. Can I live by you please and eat everything you make? I think I’d be in heaven.
The cake looks awesome! Love the sauce too.
I’ve never heard of hard sauce before! The lemon-gingerbread combo sounds fantastic!
Gingerbread with lemon? Who would have thought it! Sounds yummy!
I love gingrebread cake! I didn’t get around to making it this holiday season, but seeing this is making me think it’s not too late
I’m drooling. That lemon sauce would be good for just about anything.
I love gingerbread. Never tried with lemon, though. Your sauce looks devine. Sounds like it might be time to add a little lemon to my gingerbread.
This looks INCREDIBLY decadent. Like, I just gained weight reading it. But I don’t mind b/c it looks fabulous
Another great cake!
Lemon hard sauce? At first I thought it’s called hard sauce because you put hard liquor in it.. hehe. Silly me! Never tried gingerbread cake before but yours sounds so good!
I love gingerbread! And I would love to come home after a long day at work to a slice of this for sure! I’ve never heard of lemon hard sauce and I actually would never think to mix lemon and gingerbread, but if you say its delicious then it has to be!
What a moist, gorgeous slice of cake. I love those same kitchen aromas…something about cinnamon and ginger that I can’t resist. And since this recipe comes from your sweet mom, I love it even more
I would love a piece, please!!!
I love gingerbread flavor. This is perfect especially with the lemon sauce.
Hard sauce… oh how I love thee. GREAT recipe. This sounds absolutely amazing. The flavours pair so nicely! And you’re right. There IS nothing better than coming home to cake.
Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to make gingerbread for the holidays! Okay, I need to remedy that right away.
oh yum! I would love a piece of this gingerbread cake with warm cup of tea please!
Lovely memories! Thanks for sharing!
ginger anything is s favorite of mine. this looks fantastic. I’ll have to bake this the next time i get around to baking
thanks for the inspiration
beautiful job
Kimberly
Stunning photos, and looks so tempting and tasty as always! I love the addition of the photo when you were a kid! So cute!!!
You are too cute! I loved seeing that Christmas picture…such sweet smiles…such precious little face. I cherish recipes that have memories attached to them, and I know that your own children are going to have such fond memories when they grow up. Thank you for sharing this, Lora. I hope you are having a wonderful night.
Love the cake with hard sauce! I think hard sauce is completely underrated and should be eaten on everything.
Mmm, looks yum! I bet your house smelled amazing while it baked.
Oh you were too cute and you haven’t changes a speck! I love soft, gooey gingerbread cake and lemon is the perfect accompaniment!
Gingerbread and Lemon Hard Sauce are perfect especially when the is a foot of new snow outside the kitchen. Great recipe, Thanks!
I am spying on good gingerbread recipes – not very subtly as I appear to have a left some sticky finger prints everywhere – have saved this one. Cheers Pauline
Gingerbread brings back such memories for me! It was a favorite inexpensive and easy dessert that my Mom made for us when all the kids were still at home! Warm gingerbread with whipped cream! Your lemon sauce sounds spectacular, though! ginger and lemon complement each other beautifully!
Wow this cake looks so amazing! I love the gingerbread and lemon combo too-reminds me of xmas! That sounds so amazing and the perfect treat!
It sounds amazing and it looks delicious!
It sounds amazing and it looks delicious!
It sounds amazing and it looks delicious!
It sounds amazing and it looks delicious!
I am seriously about to start drooling! Your descriptions of the gingerbread cake and hard sauce make it sound truly heavenly. Usually I just top my gingerbread treats with maple syrup, but I think I’ve got to give hard sauce a try!
The lemon hard sauce sounds divine up against the flavors of the gingerbread. I love this recipe!
I just love the idea of gingerbread and lemon flavors…looks so good
Sounds wonderful, love the addition of the lemon hard sauce. That must put this right over the top. I love the photo of you and your brother. You look so sweet all dressed up:)
One of my favorite cakes. The lemon sauce sounds divine. What a perfect combination!!!
Girrrrrl, I LOVE gingerbread cake. With a passion! It brings back such happy memories. THe lemon hard sauce sounds like the perfect topper!
I could use this after a hard day of teaching at school
It looks like a perfect winter treat!
Really good flavor combos.
Lora I really enjoy when you share stories about your childhood. I’ve never heard of Lemon Hard Sauce. I must try it at some point. My kids would enjoy this cake very much. They both love gingerbread but aren’t crazy about citrus but ice cream sounds perfect. I was the kid that would unwrap and re-wrap. With 8 kids my mother could never remember how she wrapped the gifts – I was a real stinker!
I heart gingerbread. It was one treat that my mom made quite often, and not just at Christmas.
I can smell it now- thanks for the memories! Your gingerbread looks yummy!
gingerbread cake brings back so many memories. my grandma made the best one in whole world, at least for us, the kids
yours looks so good. I’ve tried simple, just dusted with powdered sugar so next time I have to make that lemon hard sauce, sounds tempting.
thanks for sharing Lola, hope you’re having a wonderful week