The name gingerbread is sort of misleading. It takes way more than ginger to give this bread that authentic holly jolly flavor.
Sure I’ve watched my mom bake up a batch of gingerbread cookies in years past, but I was less concerned with the ingredients and more concerned with the cookie architecture for my gingerbread house to-be. I knew she sprinkled multiple spice jars over the bowl of flour and sugar and molasses, but I had no clue how much or which ones.
So I did some cookie research, and I discovered that there is a lot of variation on the matter. Ginger is a must, of course, and cinnamon is always in there too. But including cloves, allspice, and/or nutmeg seems to be debatable. Some recipes even included black pepper!
I can’t speak for your gingerbread flavor memories, but mine are best satisfied with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
This gingerbread recipe bakes up to be a perfectly sliceable loaf, or you can trim it down into adorable snack cakes like I did. Light lemon whipped cream adorns the top like freshly fallen snow, and those zesty dollops are the perfect flavor compliment to this Christmasy cake.
Gingerbread Snack Cakes with Lemon Whipped Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 tsps lemon juice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 cup non-dairy yogurt (I used almond milk yogurt)
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- LEMON FROSTING
- 2 cups Cocowhip or coconut whipped cream
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a blender, blend the wet ingredients.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. The batter will be thick.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 45 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- For the frosting, gently stir the lemon juice and zest into the rice whip.
- Allow the gingerbread to cool completely before frosting. Frost immediately before serving.
I like the more simple spice blend for gingerbread too! No need to bombard the tastebuds! Let the ginger and cinnamon (and molasses) shine!I love the addition of the lemon topping! A nice citrus twist to complement the ginger!
Yes molasses is key! I love lemon with cinnamon and ginger, it’s Christmas perfection 🙂
Sounds so good! Ginger and Lemon are my top two favorite flavors. I definitely will make this around Crhistmas
My taste buds and your taste buds must be on the same page! I can’t get enough of the spicy + citrus combo, I’m sure you will love it. I’m definitely going to be making a few more batches before the season is over 😉
This looks fabulous!
Thanks Becky <3
This sounds delicious! I don’t think I’ve ever had lemon with gingerbread before, but I love both of those flavors, so I’m sure it’s amazing! I think I could eat that lemon whipped cream with a spoon all by itself! So fluffy and gorgeous! And that snack cake looks perfect!
Yes I absolute could too! Now I want to create a lemon mousse recipe just for that purpose 😀 Thanks Jenn!
I LOVE the look of this cake. I’m into all kinds of spices, even pepper :), but simple is nice too (btw, this year I tried white pepper for the first time and it goes over much better than black in treats — I always skipped it when I saw it in recipes before, but it’s actually quite nice). But back to this bread — it looks absolutely scrumptious, and I love the pairing of lemon and gingerbread <3
I always got freaked out by white pepper too, thought it would be like crazy spicy or something, but good to know. I actually think my mom has a jar of that some where, maybe I should try some amped up gingerbread 😀 But yes, the lemon and gingerbread is one of my all time favorites. Thank you Audrey <3
Looks amazing! At first I thought this one was your new one on Facebook! I love the lemon frosting! What a fantastic idea! Looks just totally perfect.
Haha I’ve learned from you to recycle the old and make it look like I post way more often I actually do 😉 Thanks Brandi!
The spoon in your last photo is so adorable!!! 🙂 I am drooling over this gorgeous cake and that ICING!!! Absolutely delish!
Thanks Ceara! I love that little spoon. I mean I know no one eats cake with a spoon, but its cute and red so I do 😀
Hi!! can i don’t add the molasses and the coconut sugar? Do not add these ingredients does not change the consistency? 🙁
Leaving out both of those can definitely affect the texture and will affect the flavor. Of course you are welcome to try it, but I cannot guarantee it will work.