Perfectly moist, heavily spiced + molasses-rich Gingerbread Loaf//Cream Cheese Buttercream
This gingerbread loaf is not for the faint of heart. It’s heavily spiced and wonderfully rich in molasses, with a delightfully mellow cream cheese frosting to balance it out. And it’s my most favourite thing. This to say, you’re going to be in absolute Christmasy heaven if you love molasses and strong warming spices, but this is not the recipe for you if you want a delicate hint of those elements. I’m going to work on developing a subtle gingerbread loaf, more akin to the Starbucks version, to offer an option for all tastebuds. Honestly, I can get behind that version too! Delicious. But I must say that I think that this version will always have my heart. It’s incredibly moist, with a fabulous crumb…and, truthfully, it’s just everything. Like, knock you off your feet good. That’s all I’m going to write. Go make it. Enjoy!
Recipe:
Makes 1 loaf
Notes
This loaf is to be eaten at room-temperature. You can store it in the fridge, which you will need to do due to the cream cheese frosting, if you’re not consuming the whole loaf in a day. Just be sure to take your portion out of the fridge early enough for it to come to room-temperature before enjoying (otherwise it won’t be soft, from the cold).
I find that this loaf is much better the day after it’s baked. It becomes more moist and flavourful overnight. If you're making this for somebody, an occasion, or just want to know for yourself when it will be at it’s prime, be mindful of this and make it the day before! It will remain equally delicious over the days following.
A note on the ground cloves and cardamom: when I have the time (and energy), I prefer to grind these spices by hand, as they are so much more fragrant when freshly ground. The measurement is taken once ground. Use a mortar and pestle, grind the spices (one at a time), pass them through a fine-mesh sifter, and measure. Or, if you have a fancy electric spice grinder (lucky you!), use that. If you only have the time or energy to do this with one of the spices, choose the cardamom. It makes the bigger difference in terms of flavour.
If your applesauce isn’t super thick (meaning, it holds its shape), reduce it in a saucepan over medium-low heat before using.
If you feel like a pure gingerbread flavour, don’t add orange zest. If you do feel like orange zest, note that the zest of 1/2 of an orange will yield a subtle flavour. The zest of 1 orange will be clearly present, but balanced with the spices. If you add more, it will become very strong.
I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.
Top tip for room-temperature eggs: if ever you don’t have the time to take them out of the fridge early enough, or yet if you forget, you can place them in a bowl covered with hot water for 5 minutes, and they will become room-temperature just like that!
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, and don’t want to buy a whole container of it, a trick is to simply mix in some lemon juice into whole milk (although frankly, whatever percentage of milk you have at home will do). For this recipe, replace 1 of the tablespoons of milk with lemon juice. Therefore, replace the buttermilk with 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice. Just mix it together in a small bowl before mixing with the molasses, apple sauce, and vanilla.
Gingerbread Loaf
Ingredients
225 g cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 + 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
1 tbsp + 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp + 2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves, preferably freshly ground *see notes
1/2 + 1/8 tsp ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground *see notes
1 + 1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup thick, unsweetened applesauce *see notes
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Organic blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk, room temperature
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
113 g unsalted butter, room temperature
170 g coconut oil (room-temperature—a.k.a. in solid form)
175 g light brown sugar
Optional: the zest of 1/2-1 orange *see notes
2 eggs, room temperature
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.
Butter and flour your baking tin.
Sift flour into a medium bowl. Add in baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, thick applesauce, molasses, and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, add butter, coconut oil, and brown sugar. If you’ve chosen to include orange zest, add this in too. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Add eggs to butter-oil-sugar mixture, one at a time. Beat on high for 1 minute after each addition.
Add in dry ingredients and wet ingredients, alternating in additions; do 3 rounds of dry ingredients, and 2 rounds of wet ingredients. Begin and end with dry ingredients. Each addition should be fully combined on low speed. Do not over mix.
Formal instruction: smell the finished batter. YUM.
Pour batter into the loaf tin. Even out the top with the back of a spoon.
Place the gingerbread loaf in the oven, and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out virtually crumbless. If you’re new to baking—if the toothpick comes out with wet batter, or many wet crumbs, let it bake for 2-3 more minutes, and repeat the process until this is no longer the case.
Let the loaf cool completely in its tin, and then invert it onto a cooling rack or plate. No need to run a knife along the sides first, it’ll come right out with one shake.
It’s now ready to be frosted—recipe below!
Classic Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients
115 g unsalted butter, room-temperature
60 g powdered sugar
165 g cream cheese, room-temperature
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
optional: small pinch of salt (pink Himalayan)
Instructions
Place butter in a large bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
Sift in powdered sugar, and beat on high for 3 more minutes.
Add in cream cheese. Beat on high for 2 more minutes. Taste the frosting, and feel free to add in more icing sugar if you like it sweeter.
Add in vanilla extract and salt if using, and beat in until just combined.
Have fun frosting the gingerbread loaf! Feel free to dust some extra cinnamon on top, if you’d like.
Enjoy! As mentioned in the notes, this loaf is to be eaten at room-temperature. You can store it in the fridge, which you will need to do due to the cream cheese frosting, if you’re not consuming the whole loaf in a day. Just be sure to take your portion out of the fridge early enough for it to come to room-temperature before enjoying (otherwise it won’t be soft, from the cold).
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