Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups Water (or stout beer or milk)
- 3 tsp Baking Soda
- 6 oz Finely Grated Fresh Ginger
- 1 ½ Cups Molasses (12 oz)
- 1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar (300 g)
- 1 ¼ Cups Vegetable Oil
- 5 ¼ C All-Purpose Flour (525 g)
- 1 ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¾ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ¾ tsp Cardamom
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 3 Large Eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare pans with pan spray.
Bring water (or beer or milk) to a rolling boil. Put the baking soda into a large heat resistant bowl and pour in the boiling water. It will bubble up. Add the ginger and mix. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the molasses, sugar and vegetable oil. Add the ginger mixture and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Weigh the flour and add in all of the spices. Mix half into the molasses ginger mixture and add the other half once it is fully incorporated. Mix well. Add the eggs one at a time after all of the flour is mixed in.
Pour into prepared pans and bake. 30 – 35 minutes for small loaves, 20 – 25 minutes for cupcakes. 50 – 60 minutes for larger loaves or cake pans.
This recipe makes 7 small loaves (3.5” x 6”), 3 dozen cupcakes with a few extra, 2 standard 1 lb loaf pans with a little extra or 2 – 9” x 2” layers for a layer cake.
Variations: Instead of water use a stout beer, milk or apple juice, add finely chopped dried fruits or nuts, substitute half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce for a lower fat version. Delicious plain as is or serve with ice cream and whipped cream or add a lemon glaze. Wrap in plastic and store are room temperature for a week or for 2 weeks in the fridge.
This is such a moist and flavorful ginger cake and the best part is that is can be mixed together in mere minutes. Fresh ginger is the star of this cake. You can grate the ginger yourself, or buy it already grated. At the grocery store you can find it in tubes in the produce section or go to an Asian market if you have one close and they will have fresh grated ginger. Another good tip is to buy the spices from the bulk section in your grocery store – that way you can get just the amounts needed and the spices are fresher that way.