Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze

Sometimes cake is all you need in life, isn’t it? Is it odd to be made happy by a soft, moist, spiced cake? Is it alarming that the act of cutting into a glaze-covered cake causes my heart to beat a little bit faster?

There are some cakes that just do it for me… the Chocolate Mocha Cake with Fudgy Frosting is an example of a consistent winner, as is the Crazy-Good Raspberry Cake. Add this one to the list, baker friends.

(There is a sad story to be told about the making of this cake, involving amputated body parts. I’d like to apologize for the harming of many, many innocent gingerbread men.)

Adapted from allrecipe’s recipe… this is a dairy-free recipe.

CAKE:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup boiling water

LEMON GLAZE:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a foil-lined 9″ square baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, ginger, baking soda, spices & salt together, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg and stir in sugar, molasses, and oil together. Stir into flour mixture until just combined.
4. Pour boiling water into mixture and whisk until the batter is smooth and shiny, about 1 minute.
5. Pour batter into prepared baking pan, tapping pan on counter to remove any air bubbles.
6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 – 35 minutes. Place cake on a wire cooling rack.
7. GLAZE: In a measuring cup, stir confectioners’ sugar with lemon juice until smooth. Pour glaze evenly over cake (while it’s still hot). Allow cake to cool completely before serving.
Tips:
- Want to take your spice to a different level? Replace the cloves and nutmeg with Chinese five-star spice (about 1/2 teaspoons of it). The Husband wasn’t a big fan, but many others are in this world. Be bold! Try it.
- Is the glaze really necessary? That’s like asking if sugar is necessary to lead a happy life. Obviously the answer is yes. (But if you want to be healthy for some reason, by all means- skip the glaze. The cake will still be great. All I ask is that you at least sprinkle a little bit of icing sugar overtop right before you serve.) No lemon? You can use milk (or water if you’re doing the whole dairy-free thing).
- Glazey dream: poke holes in the cake with the pokey tip of a wooden spoon, then pour the glaze overtop. You know what will happen. (Check out the picture at right of the corner of the cake- see where the glaze seeped down the edge of the foil and under the bottom of the cake? That’s my vision of heaven.)
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December 24th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | 3 Comments | Tags: Cakes, Ginger, Lemon

3 Responses and Counting...

Amanda 12.24.2012

Thank you so much for posting this!! All of the other recipes I found required things that I didn’t own or didn’t even know of!
Sherry Ross

This looks Fabulous !!
Going to make it today.
Thanks !!
More Sweets Please

Make sure you let me know how it goes :)