Gingerbread Cake

This holiday season, I've been quite surprised by the number of people who don't like gingerbread. I guess the spicy, peppery taste of ginger or the licorice-y, almost medicinal taste of molasses might be a bit of an acquired taste, but you would think that more people would appreciate something that only really comes around once a year.

I, on the other hand, am a huge fan of gingerbread and have been meaning to try my hand at gingerbread (not cookies) ever since I saw Lara Ferroni's decadent-looking chocolate gingerbread recipe. I decided to make some for a holiday brunch potluck, but thought the chocolate gingerbread required a few too many ingredients I didn't have available. I browsed through a few of my favourite blogs and finally settled on Cheryl's recipe, which comes from her sister-in-law's mother.


The recipe is uncomplicated and comes together very quickly. The result is a moist cake (with an almost-gooey top layer) rich with molasses flavour and scented with gingerbread spice.


Cheryl's family likes the cake with Bird's Custard sauce or cream cheese frosting, while Cheryl likes it with maple butter. I think a simple dusting of icing sugar works great - since B. doesn't have a sieve, I ended up using a small grater :)

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Cake
Adapted from Backseat Gourmet
Makes 1 8" x 8" cake

• ½ cup/4 oz (125 mL/227 g) butter
  
• ⅔ cup (170 mL) brown sugar, packed
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) molasses
  
• 2½ cups (625 mL) flour (I'm working on experimenting with some whole wheat)
  
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
  
• 1½ tsp (7 mL) baking soda
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
  
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
  
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves
  
• 1 cup hot (not boiling) water

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan.
   
2. Cream shortening/butter. Gradually add the sugar, then the egg. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and mix until just blended.
   
3. In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the batter, ½ cup (125 mL) at a time, alternating with ¼ cup (60 mL) water. Beat until smooth after each addition. Pour into prepared pan.
   
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Nutrition Info (per 2" x 2" piece): 223 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans), 26 mg cholesterol, 40 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 21 g sugar), 3 g protein, 256 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄), magnesium and selenium.