Gingerbread Cake – My Baking Habit

Gingerbread cake is wealthy, moist, and filled with ginger taste. Serve this vacation traditional with whipped cream and caramel sauce for a dessert that’s certain to be a success along with your visitors.

Do you may have a group of inherited cookbooks like my household? We now have so many who belonged to my Nana.

A few of them are filled with every thing that was terrible about meals within the ’50s (I’m you, sizzling canine jello salad), and wonderful in regards to the following a long time, like this gingerbread cake.

Once I’m lacking my Nana or I’m caught for a brand new recipe thought, I prefer to thumb by way of these previous cookbooks for nostalgia and inspiration.

They by no means appear to disappoint, I can inform you that a lot.

(Though what I wish to know is, who really ate that sizzling canine salad factor? Gross. We often make an enormous deal in our home about not yucking anybody else’s yums, however I draw the road at combining jello and meat merchandise, sorry 1957.)

One factor that’s undoubtedly yum for almost everyone seems to be a cake like this one. It’s a traditional, and for good motive.

My traditional gingerbread cake recipe

This recipe has a little bit of an fascinating historical past.

Whereas flipping by way of an previous cookbook, a random handwritten notecard with a model of this recipe fell out.

At first, I believed it have to be one in all my Nana’s recipes. In any case, she was well-known for her vacation baking, making every thing from pumpkin rolls to tins of peanut brittle yearly.

Once I requested my Aunt Debbie, although, she mentioned that it wasn’t Nana’s handwriting. Nana and her coworkers used to swap recipes on a regular basis, so we predict it should have come from one in all her work mates.

Effectively, I like gingerbread every thing, whether or not it’s gingerbread cookies or gingersnaps or gingerbread crinkle cookies. So I needed to give this recipe a attempt. I made a number of tweaks and fell in love with this flavorful cake.

This recipe is certainly an old-school traditional; there are variations of it obtainable all around the web, which tells me that many handwritten recipe playing cards should have been shared years in the past.

To actually play up the ginger taste, I exploit two full teaspoons of floor ginger on this cake. I additionally will generally add chopped crystallized ginger to the batter, giving it a fantastic texture in addition to one other hit of that zippy, spicy ginger.

This cake makes a simple Christmas dessert, excellent for if you wish to serve one thing completely scrumptious with out placing in a ton of effort.

How you can make this gingerbread cake

It is a completely easy, no-frills cake recipe, very similar to my eggless chocolate cake. 

However don’t let that idiot you into pondering it isn’t past flavorful! This gingerbread cake simply doesn’t must be dressed as much as make an enormous impression.

Components you’ll want

To make this cake, you have to:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup room-temperature unsalted butter 
• 1 flippantly overwhelmed egg 
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 2 ½ teaspoons floor cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons floor ginger
• ¾ teaspoon floor cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sizzling water
• ½ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (non-obligatory)

Earlier than you begin baking, ensure you know the way to measure flour accurately. This may assist your gingerbread cake end up excellent each time. 

Slightly little bit of applesauce helps this cake keep moist, whereas unsulfured molasses provides it a wealthy sweetness and the attribute gingerbread colour. Be sure you are utilizing common unsulfured molasses, not blackstrap molasses.

I like pairing ginger with cinnamon and cloves for the right steadiness of spices on this cake. For those who actually love that ginger kick, add in some finely chopped crystallized ginger. It provides nice texture and and an additional layer of ginger taste to the cake. 

Making this recipe

Probably the most uncommon issues about this recipe is the addition of sizzling water on the very finish. However hey, that’s a retro recipe for ya!

To make this gingerbread cake, begin by beating the butter and sugar till mild and fluffy, then including the eggs, applesauce and molasses. 

If you’re new to baking, I recommend reviewing the way to cream butter and sugar collectively. It is a easy step that may make an enormous distinction within the texture of your baked items.

At this level the batter may look somewhat bizarre, nearly curdled. Don’t freak out – it’ll come collectively in the long run.

Then whisk collectively the dry substances: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Slowly add this to the moist substances till simply mixed.

After the dry substances are added, stir within the sizzling water till the batter is easy. Sure, after the dry substances!

Actually, I don’t even know the why behind this step. All I do know is it makes for a tremendous moist texture on this cake, and that’s all I care about on the finish of the day.

For those who’re utilizing the crystallized ginger, go forward and fold it in earlier than pouring the batter right into a greased and floured 9-inch cake pan. You need to use a sq. pan or spherical pan, or bake it in a springform pan to chop the ultimate cake into wedges.

Bake the gingerbread cake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted within the heart of the cake comes out clear with only a few crumbs clinging to it.

Let the cake cool earlier than slicing and serving.

Storage suggestions

Retailer this gingerbread cake lined at room temperature for as much as 3 days. As a result of it’s a very moist cake, I don’t advocate retaining it a lot previous 3 days, however you could possibly lengthen this to 4-5 if you happen to retailer it within the fridge.

You can additionally freeze the cake, both entire or in slices. 

To freeze the entire cake, wrap the cooled cake in a layer of plastic wrap adopted by a layer of professional quality foil. Wrap particular person slices in a layer of plastic wrap and place them in a zip-top freezer bag.

Freeze for 1-2 months. Thaw at room temperature for a few hours earlier than having fun with.

For more information on this course of, try my put up on the way to freeze cake.  

Serving options

There are many choices with regards to topping your gingerbread cake.

A dusting of powdered sugar is a straightforward and stylish strategy to go. You may also serve it with do-it-yourself whipped cream or salted caramel sauce, and even eggnog ice cream!

For those who’re feeling further fancy, attempt making some sugared cranberries for a festive and scrumptious garnish.

It doesn’t matter what you serve with this gingerbread cake, it’ll be an enormous hit along with your visitors!