(Recommended by Kathleen Geier, based on the New Best Recipe cookbook)
Gingerbread Cake–Great by itself or with whipped cream.
Ordinance
- 2¼ cups sifted (9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger (or, alternately, 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger plus 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- ¾ cup mild or light molasses
- ¾ cup (5¼ ounces) sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- whipped cream (optional)
1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 11 by 7-inch or 8 by 8-inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and coca in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter, molasses, sugar, buttermilk, milk , and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed until the batter is smooth and thick, about 1 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
4. Bake until the top springs back when lightly touched and the edges have pulled away from the pan sides, about 40 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool for at least 10 minutes.
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