English Gingerbread Cake Recipes

OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Grease and flour an 8"x 8" square pan (or line the pan with parchment paper.) *
• Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add the butter, molasses and egg and beat for two minutes or 300 strokes by hand. (This is a very old recipe...)
• Add the boiling water.
• Beat for another two minutes and turn into prepared pan.
• Bake 50-55 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

ENGLISH GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°. Grease bottom and sides of an 8" x 8" metal baking pan with butter and line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper with butter and dust paper and sides of pan with a little cake flour. Heat 8 tablespoons butter, golden syrup, brown sugar, and marmalade in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until syrup thins and sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes. Whisk in the milk and eggs; set syrup mixture aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Add reserved syrup mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into reserved baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
• Transfer cake to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining butter along with sugar and lemon juice in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Using a pastry brush, brush half the lemon syrup over top of cake. Invert cake onto cooling rack, discard parchment, and brush the remaining lemon syrup on bottom and sides of cake. Invert the cake onto a serving stand and wrap in plastic wrap; let cool completely. The cake tastes better the day after baking and will keep for up to 4 days. To serve, cut cake into squares and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Lightly butter a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a piece of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, molasses, and crystallized ginger. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
• In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Whisk the molasses mixture into the flour mixture until evenly combined.
• In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Whisk the hot water into the batter until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake in the center of the oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

MARY BERRY'S GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• This mix makes enough to fill 2 x standard 7inch Victoria sandwitch tins or 1 x 10inch diameter tin. Grease and base line your tin(s) with baking paper; preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
• Gently heat the margarine, sugar and treacle together in a pan, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool a little.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and ground spices. Pour in the treacle mix and stir thoroughly to combine. Mince the stem ginger finely and stir with the eggs into the mix.
• Warm the milk gently in a saucepan, stirring gently to avoid it burning at the base of the pan. Add the bicarb of soda and let it foam a little. Stir into the gingerbread mixture until well blended.
• Pour into the prepared tin(s).
• Baking time: for 2x 7 inch cakes is 25-30mins (bake both together). For 1x 10inch cake bake for approx 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• This cake keeps really well in an airtight tin, and actually improves over the first 2-3 days. Enjoy!

GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH LEMON GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch square baking pan.
• Whisk flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and Chinese five-spice powder in a bowl.
• Stir sugar, molasses, oil, and egg into flour mixture until just combined.
• Pour in boiling water and whisk until the batter is smooth and shiny, about 1 minute.
• Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Tap pan gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
• Mix powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a bowl until sugar dissolves.
• Pour lemon juice mixture over cake while cake is still hot. Spread the mixture around with a spatula to ensure even distribution. Let cake cool completely before serving.

EASY OLD FASHIONED ENGLISH STICKY GINGERBREAD LOAF

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
• Grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin.
• Mix the flour with the salt, baking powder, ground ginger & raisins if using.
• Melt the butter or margarine and add the sugar, black treacle - mixing them together very well.
• Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture - and mix with a wooden spoon.
• Gradually beat in the egg and milk mixture to make a smooth, thick batter.
• Pour into the greased and lined 2 lb loaf tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer when inserted comes out clean.
• The gingerbread loaf should be well risen and slightly sticky to the touch, although it gets stickier the longer it is kept.
• Slice and eat warm with butter, or leave to go cold and store in an airtight container.
• Also wonderful served warm with custard or cream.
• Keeps very well for a week or more.

FAVORITE OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

APRIL BLOOMFIELD'S GINGER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees with a rack set in the center. Generously butter an 8-inch round, 3-inch high springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper and place on baking sheet.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. In a small saucepan, stir together boiling water, molasses, and baking soda until molasses has completely dissolved.
• Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Reduce speed to medium-low and add egg; mix until combined. Add grated ginger and mix to combine.
• Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the molasses mixture, scraping down sides as necessary. Batter will be very wet. Pour batter into prepared pan and transfer to oven. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool slightly before removing ring from springform pan; serve warm.

PIERNIK (POLISH GINGERBREAD)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Put the honey, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over a medium heat until fully melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Put the flour and spices in a large bowl and mix everything together.
• Once the liquid ingredients have cooled, whisk in the eggs. Pour over the dry ingredients, whisking them together to form a smooth batter - be careful not to overmix as this can lead to a dry cake. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 mins or until risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, use a large serrated knife to slice the cake into 3 layers. Spread the jam across the 2 bottom cake layers, then reassemble the cake and set aside while you make the glaze. Put the cream, chocolate and honey in a medium pan and cook over a low-medium heat until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, pourable mixture. Put the cake on a wire rack set over a parchment-lined baking tray and pour over the glaze, making sure to cover the entire cake. Use a fish slice to carefully transfer the cake to a serving plate and allow the glaze to set. To decorate, dust with a little edible gold powder, if you like. Uniced, this cake will keep for up to 5 days. Once iced, enjoy within 3 days - just keep in the fridge, but remove before serving and eat at room temperature.

ENGLISH GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 10-inch by 8-inch by 2 1/2-inch square cake tin and line it with grease-proof paper on the bottom and sides. Brush with one to two tablespoons melted margarine.
• Combine the remaining margarine in a small saucepan with the molasses and corn syrup and heat gently until melted. Remove from heat. Sift the bicarbonate of soda, plain and whole wheat flours (returning the whole wheat "flakes" left in the seive) into a large bowl.
• If using a food processor, put half the flour with the eggs, sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger into the bowl fitted with the steel blade. Add the margarine-molasses mixture and process until smooth. Add the remaining flour (the bowl will be quite full) and process, adding a little milk if necessary to make a smooth mixture of dropping consistency. If working by hand, beat the eggs and add them one by one to the margarine mixture. Add to the flour with the sugar and spices and blend until smooth.
• Add the crystallized ginger and raisins to the mixture and turn it into the prepared tin. Bake in the center of the oven for one-and-a-half to two hours or until a thin skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The gingerbread should have begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin and the center should be springy to the touch.
• Remove the gingerbread from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Brush the top liberally with molasses and sprinkle with chopped ginger, pressing the pieces into the surface. Allow to cool and remove from the baking tin. At this point the gingerbread can be cut into four loaves and stored separately in airtight cake tins. It keeps for several weeks in a cake tin but it may also be frozen.