Christmas is the season for indulgence, and this showstopper Gingerbread Chocolate Wreath Cake is no exception! Imagine layers of deeply moist chocolate sponge infused with gingerbread hot chocolate, with a secret gingerbread caramel filling, wrapped in silky Swiss meringue buttercream. To top it all off, a stunning gingerbread biscuit wreath takes this cake from dessert to a dazzling table centrepiece. This recipe is perfect for putting your baking skills to the test and here’s how to make it, step by step.
This recipe is created in partnership with Whittard of Chelsea. I only recommend products that I personally love, use and trust!
Recipe Overview
- FLAVOUR: Rich, chocolatey sponge meets warming gingerbread spice, perfectly complemented by vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and a gingerbread caramel centre.
- TEXTURE: This cake literally melts in your mouth. The sponge is soft, moist and tender. The caramel is thick and gooey, and the buttercream is silky, light and creamy. The gingerbread biscuit wreath looks adorable but also brings a little crunchy texture that contrasts beautifully.
- SERVES: Generously sized for festive gatherings, this cake serves 10–12 people – perfect for sharing the Christmas joy!
How to Make the Chocolate Gingerbread Sponge
Gather these ingredients to make the chocolate gingerbread cake:
- Whittard Gingerbread Hot Chocolate: This luxurious blend of cocoa and spices, instantly flavours the sponge mixture with the flavour of festive gingerbread and rich chocolate.
- Caster sugar: Provides sweetness and structure for a light, fluffy crumb.
- Light brown sugar: Adds a caramel-like sweetness and moist texture to the sponge.
- Self-raising flour: Gives the sponge a lovely rise and fluffy texture. If needed, swap for all-purpose plain flour and add two extra teaspoons of baking powder.
- Baking powder: The added moisture and hight fat content in the cake requires extra leavening to ensure it rises properly.
- Ground ginger: Boosts the ginger flavour in the cake.
- Vegetable or sunflower oil: Gives the cake a moist, soft and tender crumb.
- Milk: Adds moisture, richness and contributes to the cake’s fluffy texture.
- Eggs: Provide structure, moisture, and richness to the sponge. For this recipe, you’ll need 3 medium or 2 large room temperature eggs.
- Boiling water: Blooms the cocoa powder to draw out the chocolate flavour and makes the sponge extra soft.
Prepare the cake tins: Grease and line the base and sides of two 7-inch round cake tins. To ensure the sponges bake flat and evenly, I would highly recommend using cake strips. Simply soak the strips in cold water, wrap them around the tin, and bake as usual.
Make the cake mixture: This recipe uses the ‘blending’ method’ to make an extra soft, moist and tender chocolate cake. This consists of making two mixtures, one with the wet ingredients and one with the dry, then combining (or blending!) the two together. Don’t worry if the mixture looks very thin, it’s meant to be!
Bake: Divide the mixture between the tins and bake at 160°C fan for 45-50 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
How To Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Swiss meringue buttercream is a dream pairing for cakes – creamy, silky, and not overly sweet. It might take a little extra effort, but I promise it’s worth it, and these tips will help you perfect every step. It’s made using egg whites, sugar, butter and flavourings (in this case, vanilla and a little salt). There are four main steps to making Swiss meringue buttercream:
- Whisk over heat: Combine room-temperature egg whites and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and no longer feels grainy when rubbed between your fingers. It should look white and foamy on top, just like the photograph below. Roughly 5-10 minutes.
- Whisk to stiff peaks: Attach the bowl to your stand mixer and whisk on medium-high until the meringue reaches stiff peaks that stand tall (photograph below). Roughly 10-15 minutes. The meringue and mixing bowl should no longer feel warm. If they do, pop the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Beat in butter gradually: Swap the whisk for the paddle attachment. Add the butter, one cube at a time, ensuring each addition is fully incorporated. The butter should be room temperature and soft enough that your finger makes a slight indent, but not so soft that it’s almost melting.
- Flavour: Turn the mixer down and mix in the vanilla and salt. Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, creamy, and silky smooth. Not looking quite right? Don’t worry, we can fix it:
Fixing thin and soupy buttercream: Place the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up the butter. Then return to the mixer and beat until thick.
Fixing thick and curdled buttercream: Place the bowl back over a pan of simmering water on medium heat. Leave for a few minutes until the buttercream is slightly melted around the outside. Return the bowl to the mixer and beat on a low speed for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
If you’d prefer a simpler frosting, you could pair this chocolate gingerbread cake with caramelised white chocolate buttercream or cream cheese frosting instead.
Filling the Chocolate Gingerbread Cake Layers
For the ultimate festive surprise, we’ll fill the chocolate gingerbread cake layers with a secret gingerbread caramel centre! Either make your own caramel using my easy recipe or Thursday Cottage do a fantastic ready-made jar. Here’s how to fill the cake layers:
- First level the cakes: If the cakes have domed on top, use a sharp knife to trim the tops so they’re flat and even.
- Spread buttercream on top: Spread a 1cm layer of swiss meringue buttercream on top of one of the sponges.
- Pipe a buttercream border: Pipe two rings of buttercream around the edge. This will hold the filling in place and stop the top sponge from sliding off!
- Fill with caramel: Fill the middle with a generous amount of gingerbread caramel.
- Layer up: Turn the second sponge upside down and carefully place it on top. This will make sure the top of the cake is perfectly flat for your gingerbread wreath decoration.
- Coat in buttercream: Spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Use an icing spatula or scraper to get a smooth finish.
How To Make a Gingerbread Wreath Decoration
The gingerbread biscuit wreath decoration turns this cake into a stunning Christmas showstopper! Either use shop-bought gingerbread biscuits or make your own using my easy gingerbread recipe. I used a selection of star cutters to create different-sized biscuits and jazzed them up with royal icing and edible gold dust.
To create the gingerbread wreath, simply arrange the biscuits around the outside on top of your chocolate gingerbread cake, layering them up as you go. Top tip, it helps to the design on a piece of paper first and take a picture so you can replicate it!
This post contains affiliate links which means I will make a small commission if you purchase through those links. I only recommend products that I know, trust and use myself.
Chocolate Gingerbread Wreath Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate gingerbread cake:
- 75 grams Whittard Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
- 150 grams Light brown sugar
- 150 grams White caster sugar
- 350 grams Self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 150 millilitres Vegetable or sunflower oil
- 300 millilitres Milk whole or semi-skimmed
- 3 medium Eggs room temperature
- 100 millilitres Boiling water
Gingerbread salted caramel:
- 60 millilitres Water
- 100 grams Caster sugar
- 120 millilitres Double cream room tempertaure
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Swiss meringue buttercream:
- 5 large Eggs room temperature
- 340 grams Granulated sugar
- 280 grams Unsalted butter The butter should be room temperature and soft enough that your finger makes an indent, but not so soft that it’s almost melting.
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For the gingerbread wreath decoration:
- 20+ different-sized Gingerbread star biscuits either shop-bought or make your own using my easy gingerbread recipe
- Gold star sprinkles to dot around the outside of the cake
Instructions
Start by making the chocolate gingerbread sponge:
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Grease and line the base and sides of two 7-inch round cake tins with baking paper. It also helps to use cake strips to bake cakes with a flat top.
- In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined. They key is to make sure there are no lumps left and everything is whisked together.150 grams Light brown sugar, 150 grams White caster sugar, 350 grams Self-raising flour, 75 grams Whittard Gingerbread Hot Chocolate, 1 teaspoon Ground ginger, ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Then slowly whisk in the boiling water bit by bit, so you don't end up cooking the eggs!150 millilitres Vegetable or sunflower oil, 300 millilitres Milk, 3 medium Eggs, 100 millilitres Boiling water
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk everything together until the mixture is smooth and combined (it will be very thin).
- Divide evenly between the baking tins and bake for 45-50 minutes until the sponges are risen and spring back when pressed in the middle. Don't worry if the cakes have cracked on top, this is normal. Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn upside onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile make the gingerbread salted caramel:
- In a medium-sized saucepan, stir the water and sugar together. Be careful not to splash the water up the sides of the saucepan.60 millilitres Water, 100 grams Caster sugar
- Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a boil (this will take 5-10 minutes). Do not stir, just swirl the pan from time to time. Over the next 10-20 minutes the liquid will turn from clear, to light brown, to dark golden brown.
- As soon as the liquid is a dark amber brown, remove from the heat and pour in the cream. Be careful of splashes! Stir until the caramel is smooth and glossy.120 millilitres Double cream
- Stir in the salt and spices, then pour the caramel into a jar and leave to cool. The caramel will thicken up as it cools down.½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Now make the Swiss meringue buttercream:
- Separate your eggs into whites and yolks. Pour the egg whites into the bowl of your stand mixer.5 large Eggs
- Whisk in the sugar and set the bowl over a small saucepan filled with two inches of simmering water. Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture no longer feels grainy when rubbed between your thumb and finger. This will take roughly 5-10 minutes.340 grams Granulated sugar
- Attach the bowl to your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high speed until the meringue reaches stiff glossy peaks that stand tall and don’t curl over (roughly 10-15 minutes). The meringue and mixing bowl should no longer feel warm. If they do, pop the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Swap the whisk for the paddle attachment and set the mixer to medium speed. Cut the butter into cubes and add it bit by bit, making sure the butter is fully incorporated before adding the next one.280 grams Unsalted butter
- Once all the butter has been added, turn the mixer down to slow and mix in the vanilla and salt. The Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, creamy, and silky smooth. Not looking quite right? Check out the main blog post above for troubleshooting tips.2 teaspoons Vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon Salt
Decorate the cake:
- If the cakes have domed on top, level them off with a sharp knife. You want to get them as flat and level as possible.
- Place one sponge layer on a cake stand or plate and spread a layer of Swiss meringue buttercream on top. Pipe a thick ring of buttercream around the outside, then fill the middle with the gingerbread caramel.
- Flip the second cake layer upside down and place it on top. Gently press down to sandwich the sponges together. Cover the top and sides with the remaining buttercream.
- Arrange your gingerbread star biscuits in a circle on top of the cake, layering the shapes and alternating between sizes. Finish by dotting gold star sprinkles around the outside of the cake. Slice and enjoy!20+ different-sized Gingerbread star biscuits
Can I cut down on the amount of sugar please?