The jury is still out, but I may have a new favorite gingerbread recipe. Chiffon Gingerbread, which I found over the weekend in the same church cookbook as Capetown Brownies, is a winner. It's extremely soft, velvety, and similar to chiffon cake in texture.
When I saw the title of the recipe I was hoping it would be baked in a tube pan like a chiffon cake. But it's not! Chiffon Gingerbread is baked in a 13x9 inch pan for a full batch, or an 8 inch pan for a half batch. It's quite similar to my favorite gingerbread, but a little lighter and softer and heavier on the spices -- especially cloves. It also has a topping, which I wouldn't bother with again. There's nothing wrong with it, I just didn't care for the texture of the baked on topping with the super soft gingerbread. You should definitely try the topping and make your own decision.
Here's a photo of the original recipe. If you don't need such a large pan of gingerbread you can halve it and bake it in an 8 inch square pan. I haven't tested a loaf pan version, but I'm pretty sure ⅓ of the recipe would fit in a loaf pan.
For the molasses, I tested with Publix brand. The brand of molasses may affect the overall flavor, so I will update when I test with Grandma's or some other brand.
Recipe
Chiffon Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 cup molasses (360 grams)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (190 grams)
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoons boiling water (28 grams)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (270 grams)
- 1 cup boiling water
Topping
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, I used light (70 grams)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter (28 grams)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (8 grams)
- ½ cup ground nuts I tested with pecans. They were okay.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9 inch cake pan.
- Place the eggs, sugar, molasses, oil, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, dissolve 2 teaspoons of baking soda in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Add to the beaten mixture and beat again for 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of boiling water and beat lightly, then pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- While the cake bakes, mix together all topping ingredients (brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, flour and nuts). Five minutes before the cake is done, spread on the topping.
Sue says
It looks delicious!