Gingerbread Snacking Cake
Nicely spiced, this moist, lightened gingerbread cake is great for lunch box treats or perfectly paired with a cup of green tea.
Most of my baked goods of late have been pumpkin based and my kids are so over pumpkin! So next in line .. gingerbread! This snacking cake is mild but brings enough flavor through molasses, spices and lemon zest. My kids prefer a slight dusting of powdered sugar on top but it is delicious plain as well. Like most baked good with spices, the flavor deepens a day after you bake it.
Some gingerbread cake recipes have up to 1 cup of oil and 1 cup of sugar. We modified a typical gingerbread cake recipe to include whole-wheat pastry flour, reduced the amount of sugar and used yogurt to reduce the fat.
- The flour in recipe was changed to whole-wheat pastry flour, yogurt was added to reduce the fat and the sugar content was reduced.
- Molasses is high in calcium, iron and magnesium. Molasses also offers vitamin B6, selenium and copper.
Gingerbread Snacking Cake
Yield: Makes 16 Squares
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Ingredients:
1-1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Plain Nonfat Yogurt
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Unsulphured Molasses
Zest of 1 Lemon
2 Eggs
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly coat an 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices, then set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the yogurt, oil, molasses, eggs and lemon zest.
Beat well with an electric mixer until creamy.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.
Allow to cool before cutting.
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Hello Deborah,
I am reading this website regularly and I love your approach to food. I’m Dutch and I’m curious about other cultures and their food/recipes. I’ve made this gingerbread cake and it turned out alright but I have a question for you. I never used molasses before and to me it taste and smells like licorice! (we Dutch like our licorice or “drop” as we call it but as candy not in a cake). The taste of the cake for us (my family) is overpowered by the taste of molasses. I like the light structure of the cake and its moistness and want to make it again only with half the amount of molasses. Do I need to substitute the other half with an other ingredient for the balance in the recipe? And what would you recommend to substitute it with? I’m looking forward to read your answer.
[Reply]
recipe Reply:
December 4th, 2013 at 12:41 pm
You could use honey in place of some of the molasses.
[Reply]
Carla Reply:
December 6th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
thank you! I’ll give it try.