This recipe comes with a no frills guarantee… Perfect Gingerbread. Low fuss, high moisture, delicate yet rich.
2 1/2 cups / 300 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick / 120 grams butter, softened
1/2 cup / 100 grams unrefined cane sugar
1 cup / 250 ml dark molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup / 250 ml boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda (not baking powder!)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
You will need:
A non-stick 8 inches or 20 cm square cake pan
A sieve
2 large mixing bowls
1 small mixing bowl
A wooden spoon
An electric or hand whisk
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C / Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease the cake pan with butter.
2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a bowl.
3. Beat the butter in the other mixing bowl with the wooden spoon until it’s creamy and smooth.
4. Add the sugar, molasses and honey and continue beating with the spoon until everything has blended.
5. In the small bowl, pour the boiling water onto the baking soda, then pour the frothy liquid into the sugary butter mixture, mixing well with the wooden spoon.
6. Add the flour mixture, and whisk with the electric or hand whisk.
7. Beat in the eggs.
8. Pour the runny cake batter into the pan and bake for about 50 minutes. The cake will be ready when a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
9. Take the gingerbread out of the oven to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
10. Alternatively, turn the cake out onto a cooling rack, wrap it when cool, and serve at room temperature any time within a week of baking.
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This was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 2:35 pm by Ysanne Spevack. To link here, use the permalink. You can follow any responses to this post through the 
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Thank you so much for this recipe. It really is inspiring, and how did you
know I love ginger bread!!!
Please keep them coming.
Cheers
Rose
Posted by Rose Howe on 2nd December 2007 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
Thanks for promoting organics. Please do consider the environmental toll our livestock industry takes on the environment. Raising cattle is not water-wise or resource efficient. Eggs, too, are not a good product to produce on a mass scale to create a sustainable world. There are lots of recipes for organic and vegan baked goods that would taste just as great and cost the planet less.
Thanks for your consideration on this. I really believe that diet is all too often overlooked in the movement to become sustainable and I think diet is one of the most influential ways we impact the planet with some choices costing us very little land, water, pollution and transportation and some costing us many times more of all of these. If we go organic we can limit the pesticides and chemicals going into our food and our land. If we go vegan we can limit the amount of food we need to produce.
Take care,
Ryan
Posted by Ryan Flegal on 2nd December 2007 at 4:47 pm | Permalink
Hi Ryan,
I really appreciate your email, and will take on board your comments for the next recipe I send out. It’s a good point.
Best wishes
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne on 2nd December 2007 at 4:50 pm | Permalink
Thank you for this great recipe!!!! If you have one for sugar cookies please pass it along. Merry Christmas and may you bring much happiness to those you love. Margaret
Posted by Margaret on 3rd December 2007 at 7:17 am | Permalink
Hello Ysanne
I did make the cake, twice now and it is really the best cake I have ever made because of the texture and the flavours. It also makes a wonderful perfume while its baking that I am sure my children will never forgot. I live in England and used the measurements with no problem, I do know that a cup is 8 oz.
As you say it is iron rich, so I feel good about eating it and it is not a fattening cake so I love having it with coffee in the morning. More than anything I like the way it rose to make a big moist cake and it is still lovely the next day.
When you said it was perfect, you weren’t kidding.
Thanks again.
I had a risotto with chestnut and pumpkin in a restaurant last night that was excellent. I will try and google the recipe, you don’t have one do you?
Have a great day.
Rose
Posted by Rose Howe on 4th December 2007 at 4:47 pm | Permalink
This is problematic.
I am Canadian and we don’t buy butter by the stick. How much, in cups, is a
stick of butter? Please modify the recipe so anyone with standard North
American measuring tools can use the recipe. A stick is not standard.
Thanks.
Janice Manson
Posted by Janice Manson on 4th December 2007 at 5:50 pm | Permalink
A stick is 8 tablespoons or 1/4 lb or half a cup.
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I’ll make sure all future recipes list the butter in tablespoons too.
Best wishes,
Ysanne
Posted by Ysanne on 4th December 2007 at 6:46 pm | Permalink
can’t wait to try out the recipe with my son!
george
Posted by George Eckrich on 5th December 2007 at 3:01 am | Permalink
Veganize It!
I just made a vegan version of this yummy gingerbread; it’s easy! Just….
- substitute Earth Balance for butter
in step 2, add 3 tsp of powdered Ener-G egg replacer
in step 5, use an additional 4 tablespoons water
omit step 7. heh.
in step 8, test for done-ness after only 40 minutes
delicious!!
as for other tweaks…. next time I’m going to try a little less baking soda, to make it denser, and reduce the cloves and increase the ginger. bits of finely chopped candied ginger might be nice succulent additions too…
Posted by gregory on 19th December 2007 at 9:10 pm | Permalink
“I just came across your blog about and wanted to drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with the information you have posted here. I also have a web site about cooking:) so I know I’m talking about when I say your site is top-notch! Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!”
Posted by abdou on 7th April 2008 at 4:13 am | Permalink
A firm favourite in our house!
Posted by Danny on 2nd July 2008 at 5:22 am | Permalink