Yesterday my family resumed our 5:00am gym workouts – Christmas vacation must be over.

The tree is still up but  it looks naked without presents underneath. I’m not ready to pack away all of the holiday decorations just yet! Like this cute centerpiece my mom made, just a vase with candy canes lining the rim and filled with mini shiny ornaments.

Since we had been so busy all December with traveling and medical stuff, Christmas kind of crept up on us. We didn’t even do our annual baking for friends and neighbors! So I knew I wanted to make something special for Christmas dessert. I found a perfect recipe on Pinterest from Sprinklebakes.com. A homemade Gingerbread Coffee Bundt Cake with Espresso Icing. Sometimes we make exceptions from our healthy diet; Christmas dessert was one of them ;)

Cake from scratch is a million times better than from a box; I added lots of extra ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg because I don’t think you can have too much flavor for a spice cake. And the fact that there is coffee in the cake and icing is perfect…my family certifiably is addicted to coffee. Lately the three of us finish off a full pot of coffee within an hour of being awake. We have turned into two-pots-a-day people. Yikes! Honestly I just love the flavor.

The cake turned out perfect! Dark brown with tons of cinnamon and spice flavors. Next comes the “glaze.” It is just espresso or STRONG coffee (that sounds familiar…) and powdered sugar.

Confession: I struggle with glazing a cake. I have made approximately three cakes (all from Joy the Baker) that involve making a glaze from powdered sugar and some form of liquid and they never turn out like the picture. Instead of resting thick and glossy atop the cake, my glaze gets absorbed into the cake or just runs down the side. If anyone knows the trick to making a real glaze, help me out!

I ended up just about doubling the powdered sugar to make it thick enough to stay on the cake. I also recommend making your espresso/coffee as strong as possible so that you can still taste it over the sugar.

Gingerbread Coffee Bundt Cake with Espresso Icing:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 heaping tsp ginger

2 heaping tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup STRONGLY brewed coffee

1 1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3 eggs, plus

2 egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and Flour a bundt pan (I recommend this instead of spraying with non-stick spray); set aside.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together molasses and coffee.
4. In another large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixture. Add in the brown sugar and beat for another couple of minutes. Next, beat in the 3 eggs and 2 egg yolk one at a time.
5. Alternately add the flour mixture and molasses mixture to the egg mixture; begin and end with the flour.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and use a spatula to smooth over the top.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for 20 minutes; then remove from pan and turn it over on a wire rack to cool completely.

Espresso Icing:

3 Tablespoons Espresso (or strong coffee)

1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

• Whisk together the coffee and sugar until completely smooth. Pour over the cake, let it set for at least an hour before serving.

Despite the not-so-glazey glaze, this cake turned out to be delicious, and got two thumbs up from the family! It’s very much like a more dense spice cake with a sweet topping and should absolutely be enjoyed with a fresh mug of coffee.

Pin this recipe here!

Missy enjoyed her Christmas too and even found of couple presents for her under the tree!