Spicy Ginger Applesauce Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe (2024)

This cake is great, but rich. A little goes a long way. The ration of frosting to cake is too high - I would make 2/3 recipe of frosting.

Very good and quick to come together cake. Following another's suggestion, I made only a half-batch of frosting. I've been storing the cake, un-frosted, at room temperature, frosting in the fridge, and it still tastes perfect after about 5 days-- just frost individual pieces as needed.

I adore applesauce cake, and this is now my very favorite. The fresh and crystallized gingers are a magnificent addition. I also didn't use all the frosting, saved it for something yet to be discovered- as it keeps a couple weeks.

Amazing! Moist, exploding with ginger & spices. 1/2 recipe of frosting was just right. This is a keeper. I used mostly whole wheat pastry flour (a little less than 2 cups) and added just a touch of fresh orange juice to counter the bitterness of whole wheat! My bookclub group raved!

Made cupcakes with this recipe and used pecans instead of crystallized ginger... they were heavenly! After reading the notes I only made 2/3 of the frosting (and still had a few tablespoons left over!) I will definitely be making these again...

I think this is the best cake I've ever made. The complexity of the 3 kinds of ginger is great. I used lime juice and zest rather than the lemon and orange that was called for, and I made the applesauce rather than using canned. The diced crystalized ginger on top of the frosting adds great flavor and texture.

Excellent ginger cake. I cut recipe in half and baked in 8X8" pan. Although I measured half of all ingredients, I accidentally measured full amounts baking soda and baking powder. Cake still baked perfectly! I prepared 1/3 original frosting recipe and still had plenty. I'd bake this again.

Wow! Such a simple cake to make with spectacular results. I followed the recipe exactly except I split the batter in 2 cake pans to make a layered birthday cake. It worked perfectly. I frosted the cake between the layers and on top of the cake with a little frosting to spare. The cake was beautiful, incredibly moist and my guests raved about it. Even those that said they didnt like ginger loved it! This is a must!

This cake is delicious but, as others have noted, the frosting is overwhelming (but tasty). Made it with 2/3 of frosting recipe but that was too much, would reduce to half next time. Also added 1/4 cup chopped pecans to the batter and used some additional chopped pecans to decorate, rather than candied ginger.

Delicious and very adaptable. Skipped the icing, added 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts, and subbed in whole wheat pastry flour for half the AP. I also realized halfway in that I had only a cup of applesauce, so I cooked a handful of frowzy-looking baby carrots in some cider, puréed them, and used that to fill out the 2 cups. Still great!

This is a lovely recipe! I made it in a bundt tin and baked for 35 minutes. It was lovely and moist with gorgeous ginger flavours. I noted the previous comments on frosting, but I always like to follow the recipe instructions for my first attempt. I'm glad I did. The swirls of frosting were what made this cake impressive to look at. Everyone said "wow!" And it tasted great to boot! That will be my go-to frosting recipe now.

This is a lovely, keeper recipe. I didn't have cardamom so I upped all the other spices (powdered ginger, cinnamon, allspice) by about a 1/4 teaspoon. FWIW I'm always looking for ways to add nutritional punch so I subbed 1/3 cup flour with 1/3 cup ground flax seed and it turned out great. I plan to make in a bundt cake next for more "company worthy" dessert.

I made this cake with GF flour. I had never used GF flour. The cake came out delicious! No one in the family knew it was GF; no one noticed any flavor change. It was a win.(as usual when you read the comments the cook often substitutes ingredients. I didn’t have crystallized ginger so I used walnuts, I didn’t want a heavy icing so I made a sugar glaze.) Great cake!

Made this for ,y sister’s 77th birthday. I subbed butter (melted) for oil. The only other change I made was baking in 2 layer pans. Greased pans with butter with a little flour around the edges and then parchment paper cut to fit pans. Used every drop of the frosting. Delicious!

I followed the recipe, with the sole exception of making only half the frosting. This cake is fantastic! Light, fluffy, very flavorful. I keep my fresh ginger in the freezer, which made it super easy to grate with a microplane. My only recipe edit for next time will be to chop the crystallized ginger into much smaller pieces, but that may be a personal preference. This recipe is absolutely a keeper! A lovely taste of autumn.

And I forgot to say I omitted the frosting, too. In sure it’s good but probably would make the cake too sweet for us.

A(nother) variation: cut the applesauce down by a 1/4 cup and sub in 1/4 cup curaçao or other orange liqueur (any type that isn’t too sweet). And omit the vanilla. I also used less brown sugar by about 1/3 cup and used all whole wheat flour. It’s too good! My husband keeps stealing the piece(s) from my plate… and I keep taking more

Can this cake be frozen?

Use parchment so can lift cake out

Great, eleanor liked

I am amazed by the tastiness of this cake. Used homemade candied ginger. Made half the frosting, skipped the ginger in the frosting, and added quarter teaspoon lemon extract instead of lemon zest. Delicious!

A huge hit at Thanksgiving! Moist cake packed with flavor. I omitted the candied ginger all together, but added chopped pecans to the frosting. Following the advice of others, I made 2/3 of the frosting recipe, which was perfect.

Too good! Very moist. Added 1/2 cup walnuts and cup of cranberries, and used 1 1/2 c white flour and 1/2 c whole wheat. Yummy even without the frosting!

Loved the ginger flavor in this, but skipped the crystalized ginger (it tends to taste chemical-y to me?) and subbed crushed pistachios. Ended up tasting a bit more like a carrot cake, but still delish! Unfortunately undercooked a little—don't trust the toothpick on this one since it's made with applesauce.

When making the frosting, be sure to finely chop the fresh ginger WITH A KNIFE. Use of a box grater on the tiny star-shaped surface, or use of an Asian “washboard”-style grater for ginger will leave behind the fibrous ginger strings, which ruin the frosting’s creamy texture. Also, to our taste, the quantity of frosting was double what was needed.

This is my go-to recipe for family gatherings and book club. Absolutely delicious.

The spices in this cake are amazing. However, even without the frosting, this cake is overly sweet. I did 85g of brown sugar, which turned out beautifully and much less cloyingly sweet.

Made in a sheet pan. 350F for 22 minutes. 3/4 recipe.

Absolutely delicious!!!!! I made the full amount of frosting and still had a lot left over after layering and fully icing this as a cake. I would make 1/2 or 1/3 the recommended amount next time, although I agree with others that it would probably taste great unfrosted too.

Reduced cream cheese to 8 oz...all good. Also added baking soda & powder with applesauce.