Gingerbread with Crystallized Ginger
Sweet and spicy gingerbread loaves made with crystallized ginger are a perfect holiday treat to share with guests.
Ingredients
- 1 stick Butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 1 cup White sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg, large
- 1 cup Applesauce or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Ginger, ground
- 2-3 tbsp Crystallized ginger, diced into small pieces
- 2 tsp Cinnamon, ground
- 1 tsp Cloves, ground
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Glaze
- 1 cup Sugar, powdered
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Use non-stick spray or flour and butter a loaf pan
- Lightly mix dry ingredients of flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda just till blended.
- In separate bowl, cream butter. Add sugar, egg, applesauce (or oil) and vanilla and mix together.
- Add dry ingredients to applesauce mixture. Blend.
- Add the desired amount of crystallized ginger pieces to the batter. Mix to incorporate.
- Pour into prepared loaf pan. Smooth batter to level in pan.
- Bake 50 - 55 minutes. Test to see if done by use a cake tester or toothpick to see if it comes out clean with no batter on tester. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan and then remove from pan onto cooling rack.
- Cake must be cool before drizzling glaze. Use as much glaze as you prefer. You can use whipped cream instead if you desire.
- For the glaze, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk. This should not be a thick consistency but easy to drizzle over gingerbread loaf. You may need to add a little more milk to achieve the desired texture.