Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

One of the most beloved and familiar flavors of the holidays is gingerbread. Gingerbread often surfaces in cookie form, whether for gingerbread men or gingerbread houses. While I love the flavor, I've never been a fan of the dry biscuit texture. This gingerbread cake has all the flavor of Christmas, while being moist and cake-like. It's perfect baked in a pan or can even be turned into muffins or cupcakes. The cake itself is extremely versatile, whether it's served simply with a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream, a flavored icing, or layered in a trifle. Blackstrap molasses from the Good Foods Market & Café gives this gingerbread its signature color and wonderful depth of flavor, further accentuated by stout beer, which can be purchased by the single bottle at Good Foods as well.

Gingerbread
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup turbinado/raw sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp fresh nutmeg
1 cup molasses
1 cup stout beer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 inch pan (or the pans of your choice: two smaller square or round cake pans would work well, as well as loaf or cupcake pans). Cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine molasses and beer. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the molasses/beer mixture to the egg mixture, beating to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until set. Serve with a dollop of Bourbon Maple whipped cream, below.

Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp bourbon

Beat the heavy cream, maple syrup, and bourbon until soft peaks form.