Gingerbread Loaf

I’ve made gingerbread cake before, but never a loaf like this. I have it on high authority that this is the way to go because the inside is more steamed pudding-like than a cake is. All I know is that it is spicy, rich and delicious. I doubled this recipe and made 2 loaves- 1 to eat for dessert with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce and 1 to freeze for closer to Christmas. That second one might not make it very long and that’s ok because this is really easy to whip up and make.

I’m kicking myself for not making this recipe earlier in my life. Why have I waited so long? Don’t make my mistakes! If you enjoy ginger flavor, then you will love this dense loaf. Another plus? Your house will smell amazing and your family will ask you 500 times what’s cooking because it smells so divine. This brought my girls out of their room, away from the little people and Barbie commune they have built up there, just so they could ask what it was and when they could eat some of it.

Gingerbread Loaf
this is a recipe clipped from a magazine. I don’t know which one, or what year, or even if it was one I clipped or if it’s one I was given. If I find the source, I’ll update this!

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup hot water

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and beat well. Stir in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Mix in the hot water. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting to avoid crumbling. Serve warm with ice cream, custard or hard sauce. Serve cool with butter, cream cheese or lemon curd.

Make some and enjoy it! Give some away. Fill your house with the special scent of Gingerbread and know that Christmas is almost here. Now that I’ve baked it, I know why people associate gingerbread and it’s scent with Christmas- they just go together!