Gingerbread cake
Gingerbread cake is a British and American sheet cake: dark brown, moist and a little sticky, with warm heat from ginger and the deep sweetness of molasses. The batter is mixed by hand with a whisk in a single pot, no mixer needed, so it is very easy to make. A simple dusting of powdered sugar is all it takes to make it look wonderfully cozy.
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rising or chilling
- 30 min
- Total time
- 1 hr 25 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Cake batter
Topping
Instructions
Step 1
Turn the oven on to 175°C and line a 23 cm square pan with parchment paper so it covers the bottom and two opposite sides. A batter with molasses sticks and burns easily on the bottom without a paper lining. The pan is ready when the paper is neatly folded into the corners.
Step 2
Put 115 g unsalted butter, 100 g brown sugar, 240 g molasses and 240 g water in a saucepan, heat over low and stir until the butter has melted, then turn off the heat. Gentle heat dissolves the sugar completely without the mixture boiling over. It is ready when it is smooth, dark and glossy and there are no sugar crystals left at the bottom of the pan.
Step 3
In a large bowl, sift 250 g all-purpose flour with 6 g baking soda, 2 g salt, 8 g ground ginger, 4 g ground cinnamon and 1 g ground cloves. The baking soda needs to be evenly distributed so it can react with the acidic molasses and create bubbles throughout the cake. The mixture is ready when it is an even beige with no small lumps.
Step 4
Let the molasses mixture cool until just warm to the touch, then whisk in 50 g eggs and pour the whole pot into the bowl of dry ingredients, whisking quickly. Molasses that is too hot will scramble the eggs into lumps. The batter is ready when it is as thin as pouring cream, glossy and smooth, with no clumps of flour.
Step 5
Pour the batter into the pan, tilt it so the batter flows into the corners and bake at 175°C for about 35 to 40 minutes. The thin batter levels itself and bakes evenly without any smoothing. The cake is done when the top cracks slightly at the edges, it springs back when pressed and a skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Step 6
Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then lift it out by the parchment, sift to taste powdered sugar over the top if you like and cut it into squares. While still very hot, the cake is very soft and falls apart easily when cut. It is ready when the fine white sugar on top contrasts with the dark brown crumb inside.
Equipment
- Oven
- Square pan
- Parchment paper
- Whisk
- Small saucepan
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Wire cooling rack
Tips
- Grate a little fresh ginger into the molasses mixture for a brighter, more pronounced heat.
- The cake is delicious served warm with a spoonful of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Choose light molasses if you are not used to the slight bitterness of blackstrap molasses.
Storage
Gingerbread cake gets moister and more flavorful as it sits; wrap it tightly and keep it at room temperature for up to five days. It also freezes well for two months if you wrap each piece individually.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The center of the cake sinks after coming out of the oven.
- The center wasn't fully baked or there was too much baking soda. Bake it a few minutes longer and measure the baking soda precisely.
- The crumb is dry and crumbly.
- The cake was baked too long. Next time, start checking at thirty minutes and take it out when the skewer still has a few moist crumbs on it.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
