Gingerbread Pound Cake

This week’s baking recipe came from my new (and already loved) Gingerbread book, by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn. There are so many fun recipes to try from this book…I had a hard time picking one to make!

Gingerbread Pound Cake
2 c. cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c. molasses
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
5 eggs, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in molasses and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and drop in the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 2 minutes and stopping at least once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The top should be dark chestnut brown in color and cracked, and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool completely.

::my notes::
I continually have trouble pouring molasses without dripping it everywhere. Really. Everywhere. The jar is sitting in a measuring cup right now (to prevent further contamination), where I think it’ll stay until it’s gone. I used regular flour, not cake flour like the recipe calls for. I also need to be better about reading recipes carefully…my oven was 25 degrees hotter than it should have been, but besides some crispy edges, the cake was fine. The recipe says this cake is good with a glass of milk or with a cup of coffee and I totally agree.

(We're not starting a compost pile under our Christmas tree...those orange peels are supposed to keep the  cats away, although at this point, they're more toys than repellents. It was worth a shot.)

Love, T.