gramercy tavern’s gingerbread
It took me 32 years to make gingerbread but I got lucky on the first try with this one. It doesn’t hurt that this is from one of the only chefs I break my no-fawning-over-chefs-rule for: Claudia Fleming, back when she was at Gramercy Tavern, one of the only restaurants I break my no-restaurant-worshiping rule over. (These days, she’s at the North Fork Table & Inn, making delicious breakfast scones among other things.) Things just seem to taste better when she baked them first.
I hope that whereever you are, your break is both merry and bright and filled with homemade deliciousness, the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas Album, argyle sweaters, egg nog, lasagne and gingerbread houses, or you know, Chinese and a movie. Whatever your version of a perfect Christmas is, I hope you get it.
Gramercy Tavern’s Gingerbread
Claudia Fleming
Just to note, this is no Starbucks gingerbread loaf. It is not mild or docile in any way; this is for that family member who loves old-school, intense gingerbread cakes and complains that they don’t make them like they use to. Or, it’s for people like me, who didn’t even know she liked gingerbread before trying it.
The only snafu I ran into with this recipe is that the cake sunk a bit. Since it was in a bundt pan (flipped upside-down for serving) no one will be the wiser, but I suspect if the problem is anything like the sinking honey cake, there might be too much baking powder in it. You’ll only want to consider dialing it back a pinch if you are subdividing it into a pan that you won’t serve upside down.
Speaking of, I have successfully divided bundt pan recipes into two full-sized loaves before, but haven’t tested it with this recipe yet. If you do, let us know.
1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting
Accompaniment: Unsweetened whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. (She is not kidding about this. I used a nonstick pan with a butter/flour spray and still lost a chunk of cake. I will be more generous next time.)
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.
Do ahead: This gingerbread is better if made a day ahead. It will keep 3 days, covered, at room temperature. I am sure it will keep well-wrapped in the freezer even longer.
I love gingerbread. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Happy Holidays!
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Channukah and everything else! I have long considered your blog to a gift…one that keeps on giving – without guilt! xo, Nan
wow this looks incredible! i love spicy cakes and cookies but i’ll have to finish my gingerbread and molasses spice cookies before i try out this cake! i’ll get to munching…..
Mmmm… I love gingerbread except that most people make it too mild. This is going on my To Try list!
Definitely going to be making this in the next few days. It sounds fabulous. Merry Christmas Deb!
I must try this – I love spicy, intense flavors!
Thank you, Deb! I was looking all through all my cookbooks and combing the web for a good (read: intense and spicy) gingerbread recipe a few weeks ago, but not much came up. Since we don’t have stout on hand, could regular beer substitute?
I like the idea of using Guinness. I’ve used it in a chocolate cake, and the bitterness compliments the chocolate very well.
My recipe uses far less sugar: 1/2 c. instead of 2 c. Perhaps this needs the sugar to balance the spiciness?
http://brentoneats.blogspot.com/2008/12/gingerbread-and-applesauce.html
This is a great recipe, I make it every year. Merry Christmas!
Never heard of oatmeal stout – where do I find that? Cake looks gorgeous – very very holiday-ish feeling! Happy Happy.
Baking as I write.
Nobody does Christmas like the Muppets, that’s for sure.
I must try this. I never thought to put stout in gingerbread but now that I see it here it seems perfect. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
My day was indeed filled with John Denver and the Muppets! I love gingerbread, so I’ll have to try this.
Oh dear, I have been looking for the perfect gingerbread recipe for a long time, but I avoid all alcohol for religious reasons (and I’m nearly 8 months into the process of making one of those things with the roly thighs…). Any ideas on getting away without the stout?
If I just gaze at the picture I can live vicariously. Without actually consuming the calories. Though I’d love to.
You could probably use strong coffee instead of the beer
Hi Deb, this is a different recipe than I use, but I thought I would offer this tip: I always consider baking it as a bundt cake but always go back to a regular flat baking dish/pan (8×8 or 9×12 depending)–my favorite thing about gingerbread is that the top, after it’s cooled for a bit, gets CRISPY. after a bit more cooling it goes back to soft and moist but man, that crispy thing, when the cake is still a little warm, is my favorite part. Also, when I was a kid we ate it with a) salted butter and/or b) sweetened whipped cream. yum.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Deb! Your blog is, in a word, awesome. Thanks for putting so much time and effort into sharing your baking life. Do you think you might have a few spare moments to write a cook book (like all those other bloggers) in ‘09?
My serious gingerbread hit this year was Dorie Greenspan’s Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread, with a fudgy chocolate icing to die for. I made it for my cousin’s Christmas eve dinner, along with lemon charlotte russe, your grasshopper brownies (less cream worked out well in the ganaches, btw), World Peace cookies and other assorted wonders from the holiday cookie collection. But I digress. If gingerbread is your thing and you can see it being combined with chocolate, you really need to try Dorie’s recipe. My cousin wouldn’t give me any of the leftovers to take home. Fortunately, I anticipated this, pre-cut the squares small and then didn’t bring all of it over to her house anyway…
hah, i made the exact same thing for Christmas dessert! I will probably post it on my blog later tonight or tomorrow. I split it into two 8 x 8 brownie pans because I wanted to have small squares instead of larger bundt slices. I cooked them for 35 minutes and they came out perfectly.
Oh how wonderful — you DID make it! I absolutely loved this cake — totally kick-ass! :)
Saw it, baked it, and ate it in less than 3 hours. There’s not much leftover to find out if it will taste better tomorrow. Next time I’ll add some fresh ginger for an extra kick. Didn’t have the stout so I substituted Corona beer. (Instead of alcohol, maybe Coca Cola would work?)
Hey Deb,
Actually, when I made the honey cake, it didn’t sink at all, but the baking powder in Australia may be different. This looks great, but I was just wondering, what is the difference between dark molasses, treacle and golden syrup? I’ve had success substituting them for each other in the past, but do you know if it is suitable at all?
I made a deeply rich and flavorful gingerbread this year also and it was dark, sultry, mysterious and oh so delicious. Our recipes might have been twins except for the stout. I kinda like that idea but then I would have to drink the rest of the bottle and…..oh wait, why is this a problem???
here I sit on Christmas night, ready for bed, and wondering if I could send my husband out, already in his pajamas, for some stout so I can make this tonight for tomorrow’s breakfast! Guess not. Bummer.
Ah ha! finally a recipe I tried before you did! Deb, you are right, this is definately a gingerbread that is intensely flavored from the molassas with a bite from the Ginness and big ginger. My biggest gripe about most other gingerbread recipes was how springy they were; the texture. This one is more like a cake, a nice moist and sticky, spicy cake; more the texture I was looking for. A little too intense for my taste, but I’m glad I made it and would not refuse a piece if offered. Butter Pecan Ice Cream smoothed the way very nicely for me!
This sounds great. I recently made a gingerbread from Bon Appetit (the one for the gingerbread trifle in December’s issue) with Guiness that sounds similar and was fantastic. I’ll file this for next year.
I have had this on my to-make list for years.. thanks for being the advance scout!
Merry Christmas!
Ooh that is one delicious gingerbread you have there! Can still make it for New Year’s Eve! Happy Holidays!
i like this recipe. the cake looks awesome :) i m gonna try this :)
I met your blog by coincidence and since then I have visited often, I find it very interesting.
I SO need to try this. I have been dreaming about gingerbread this year but still haven’t made any. Now I know why…I was waiting for this all along. Yum!
I’ve made this cake for years and agree that it’s wonderful in both flavor and texture. The only tense moment comes when removing from the bundt pan. After a few disasters, I now butter the pan twice before flouring. Also, 5 minutes is just the right time to unmold it. When I’ve waited 10 minutes, I had trouble. I’ve drizzled chocolate ganache on it, or served with lemon sauce. Both are lovely with this terrific cake.
Five years of a private girls’ school, many years ago, of which I have few good memories, and then I read your recipe and – voila! – I remember that their kitchen’s gingerbread was mighty good. Marvelous what memories pop up with a recipe. Thanks so much.
On Monday I finished my holiday baking (14 different kinds of cookies and 1 confection). I thought I would put baking on hold for a bit, but now you have me pulling out the bunt pan. I might give this a try for New Year’s Day, I think my husband and kids would love it!
Thanks for all of your always great recipes!
We love gingerbread in our house. We serve ours with maple syrup or lemon sauce. I may be putting in bits of crystallized ginger. We get some great ginger here at our local (Canadian)health food store that come from Australia.
Thanks so much for this recipe – looks fabulous (this might be a great New Year’s Day recipe, of course along with the traditional Hoppin’ John).
Anything by Claudia Fleming is a winner. I loved your Sept piece on the North Fork Table & Inn – I have wanted to go there for the longest time. Happy Holidays!
Sounds like a recipe that is pretty bold with rich flavor.
I was surprised to see that you boil the stout and molasses. This is how you make a shoe fly pie, which is nothing more than a moist, wet bottomed cake inside a pie shell with a strudel on the top. Not spicy at all, but sticky and gooey, nonetheless. I hope you have managed to try shoe fly pie.
Sounds like the terrific gingerbread former neighbors, Brits, used to serve with a spoonful of lemon curd on top. Either the cake or the curd was warm. Amazingly good. Thanks for the recipe–will use it next year.
This cake is awesome!
I love gingerbread (actually anything with ginger). I’ll be making this for sure (and yes the muppets and John Denver are singing in the background here at Chiot’s Run!
We love gingerbread cake at our house. :-) It tastes so delicious. My sister likes to put in pieces of crystallized ginger in addition to the usual blend of spices, but I think that makes it a little bit strong. However that may be right up your alley if you love this cake, so I’ll suggest it to you as an idea for the next time you bake this recipe! We find ours at the health food store but considering that you live in NY, you can probably just enter ANY given grocery store and find it there. Lucky you. In our town special ingredients must be procured at stores that are at least an hour or more away. Two hours if it is anything international like Japanese or Indian food.
This sounds divine…I must try it soon! Happy Holidays, and all the best for you and your family.
I made this the day before Christmas and it was a bit of a disaster. I had made it before with great success, but this time the whole thing stuck to the bottom of the bundt pan and turned out the ugliest loaf ever. I am going to try again tomorrow. I used shortening and flour to butter the pan. Any suggestions on what else to do? I will try buttering it twice before flouring and not wait too long before turning it out of the pan. I will keep my fingers crossed, but seeing your success here reminds me that it is possible.
Oh! I LOVE gingerbread. I will have to try this one. Must go and buy the beer. My current favorite is from James McNair’s Cakes, so so good. Just like you described, old school and intense, it calls for 1 1/2 t finely ground black or white pepper! I always serve it with what he calls old fashioned dessert sauce, a thick, sweet, milky sauce. Just in case you want to venture into more gingerbread.
Mmmm…toasted with butter for breakfast the next morning is heavenly.
Looks so gorgeous I will make it soon I hope, but what if I only have light brown sugar should i add more molasses or will the light brown sugar be just fine? Oh I also made the cranberry vanilla coffee cake using crasins instead or frozen, thawed cranberries, and it turned out a little sugary, bust still bery delicious! THANKS!
I have only made it as you see (dark brown sugar) but see no reason light wouldn’t work as a replacement.
What could I add in place of the alcohol? Is coffee really the best substitute (I did a search on it, and coffee came up). I wouldn’t know, I don’t drink.
Update: I looked and looked online for a non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated stout substitute and from what I saw, you can substitute just about any liquid in an equal amount, even water. I used grape juice and it turned out just beautifully. (Purists out there are shuddering, I’m sure!)
I would love to make this, but I am perplexed but one thing: every other version of this recipe that I’ve seen (including ones on Epicurious and Food and Wine) use only 1/2 cup each of white and brown sugar. Needless to say, I am a bit confused… Could it be that your recipe has a typo?
See: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/guinness-ginger-cake and http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Guinness-Stout-Ginger-Cake-105881 for other versions of the cake.
Interesting! There seem to be multiple versions of this cake online. The other version on Epicurious also suggests — in addition to swapping half the brown sugar with white sugar — grapeseed oil as an option (not only vegetable oil), uses half a tablespoon of baking soda instead of half a teaspoon and adds one tablespoon of freshly grated ginger at the end. Looks like both work and are raved over, so I am sure whichever you use, you will be pleased with.
Hi again! I ended up making it with coffee + some ground pecans for texture– it’s in the oven now and smells wonderful. One question: does anyone know why the baking soda is whisked into the molasses mixture and not the dry ingredients? It was very entertaining to watch, but I don’t get it.
Hi Deb, I’ve admired your blog for some time now! This has been my go-to gingerbread recipe for some time now, and I’ve always run into the same problem with the cake sinking. I think I’ll try reducing the baking powder (per your suggestion) on my next version. Also, the best combo I’ve had is baking the recipe as cupcakes with tangy cream-cheese frosting (on day 2 of course). Simply amazing.
I have never left a comment on any site after better than a year of reading and enjoying so many wonderful blogs from so many talented women. Today, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you so much for sharing your talent and your love for preparing food. It is a blessed person who feeds with joy those that she loves.
I too first tasted gingerbread when I made it for the first time! I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/RecipeDisplay?RID=7) because they’re just so darn reliable. The flavors were stronger than I expected, and even though I was surprised, I was also seriously addicted. I ate the whole pan of moist deliciousness ALL by myself over the course of three days, sliver by sliver.
And so, since then gingerbread has become the absolute ONLY thing I won’t allow myself to bake ever again even though (or rather, because) it was quite possibly the most amazing thing I have ever made. :(
I made this today in two loaf pans. I greased them with a huge amount of cooking spray (I had tried it in the bundt pan a few days ago and huge chunks had stuck to the pan) and baked for about 40 minutes. No sticking this time. It still fell a tiny bit, but not so much. It’s a sensitive cake, I think keeping the over door closed till the very, very end helped.
i made this from her book a few months ago — i didn’t have a bundt pan, but i used two fancy shaped (star!) pans, served the cakes upside down, and no one knew the cakes sank. i wholeheartedly agree that this cake should not be served on day one, and am extra thrilled that this is the very first recipe in a blog that i follow that i have already made. :)
Jennifer #55..the moisture in the molassas activates the leavening power of the baking soda and it balances acidity in recipes. Once the soda has been added..don’t dally getting the rest of the recipe put together and into the oven. It loses it’s leavening power soon after activation. However, the large quantity of baking powder is activated by heat and moisture (there is some baking soda in baking powder too), and is really the main leavener in this recipe. But still, don’t delay getting it into the oven.
Cookies are the exception, as there isn’t as much liquid to activate baking soda and the leavening isn’t as big a deal as it is in a cake.
The hubby would LOVE this!!!
Score! Something to make in my Christmas-present new bundt pan!
Made the gingerbread cake. It took longer than 50 minutes to bake, maybe closer to 70! Very good, but my family wasn’t that thrilled with it, though I liked it!
Rina, I’d love to try this in cupcake form as you suggested. How long did you bake them? thank you
Thank you for this recipe! I am one of those grumpy old people that complains about gingerbread, and this turned out beautifully. I’m thinking that next year I will make it in mini bundt pans to give as gifts, if I can figure out the conversion in baking time. (Anyone have any suggestions?)
Oh my god those pictures are just to die for. What a sultry version of gingerbread. And I’m very into Guiness cake at the moment, so couldn’t be happier to see that Guiness is the first ingredient!
I’ve decided that most things look better in Bundt form…. across the board.
My family has made gingerbread every Christmas for as many years as I can remember. No Guinness, but it DOES have a buttery caramel sauce and whipped cream topper! Yum!
I have made this a few times and it is our new Christmas tradition. I love the crunchy outside. YUM! We are still eating it 5 days later and it tastes great. Makes me happy!
Reading Rina’s comment that she’s made these successfully as cupcakes and – bingo!- maybe I can now create my holy grail of baked goods: the gingerbread cupcake from Miette in SF.
We just got home from a trip to antwerp, where I tried the loveliest gingernut speculaas (from the famous Philip’s Biscuits on Korte Gasthuisstraat). I wanted the scent of gingerbread in my apartment this afternoon — and, despite what I thought might be some fatal errors, this cake turned out wonderful. my fatal errors: jetlag caused me to 1. forget to add the white sugar (hence, the cake is not too sweet, but I actually like it this way) and 2. forget that I was out of flour, so I used cake flour, but neglected to add an extra tbsp or two to compensate (so my batter was quite liquid, almost terrifyingly so). Lo and behold, the cake still turned out perfect. So good, that I am sending my husband out to buy whipping cream to top it off with a perfect creamy cloud! Thank you!
One quick (and probably very silly) question: is the ground ginger supposed to be fresh ginger or dried ginger? I want to make this (non-alcoholic, swapping coffee for the Guiness) this weekend, and can’t wait to know!!! (can you tell I have never made gingerbread?)
And I must add: I discovered your blog about a month ago (looking for a way to make orangettes… now isn’t that surprising) and have fallen in love! You’re like a foodie soul-mate, except for the aversion to beets.
I live in Paris in a micro-studio apartment/grad-student-dorm-type room and my kitchen – rather kitchenette – is probably smaller than yours (a sink, enough space for a dish rack, no real counter, only one functional electric stovetop, as the second one blows the fusebox when I switch it on, and no oven… poor me!). But I LOVE to cook. I’ve already tried out a few of your recipes (stewed lentils and tomato, orangettes, bean-filled artichokes, one of your endive salads) and have never been disappointed. The best part is that they are such great inspiration (I love to experiment in the kitchen).
In two words: THANK YOU!!! Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration.
I think one of my favorite things about this post is the reference to the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album. But I can’t wait to make the cake!
Dammit… Dammit… Dammit… This recipe has been my secret for about 5 years and now everyone will have it!! Seriously if you are considering this gingerbread you should wonder no more… It is the BEST!!!
Oh and before I forget… I froze this for 9 months and it was still incredible when it was thawed… Even denser than the fresh baked and rested for 3 days…
Thanks Susan (61), I had no idea about the baking soda. It’s interesting that you can’t delay using the mixture, but still have to wait for it to cool down. I guess the baking powder does do most of the work, like you said.
I made this last night for a new years party and loved how spicy it was! I also used light brown sugar, Rogue’s Shakespeare stout, and buttered the heck out of the bundt pan and it came out fine.
Question about the molasses– I used blackstrap because I have a big bottle I’m trying to use up, but the recipe says not too. Why is this and what is the difference for baking? FWIW, the cake tasted great with the blackstrap, but I’ve never made it with regular molasses so I don’t have anything to compare it to.
brought the cake to a small new years gathering. it was the hit of the evening.
Had the cake for dessert tonight, and was beyond thrilled. I have been trying to find a gingerbread that compared to the one at Al Forno in Providence, RI and this recipe finally ended my search! I highly recommend a glass of Merryvale Antigua with it!
This is my very first visit to a Blog!
Just saw Martha’s “Blog Show” from a recording I wish I had seen earlier. I am so excited to find your great site. The gingerbread recipe is unforgivable…do you know how many pounds of weight will be your responsability? Good for you! and sharing such delectable morsels as those I see available here. Who wouldn’t mind trading a little more work at the gym for such yummy mouthfulls.
I’ve recently become a BIG fan of Claudia’s … ever since I had some of her breathtaking desserts and the North Fork Table & Inn. She stole my heart with her Blackberry Cornbread Cake and Sweet Corn Ice-cream!! Thks for sharing another great recipe of hers.
Can’t wait to try this!! Thanks for posting!
I just made this today, and since my bundt pan and I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to sticking, I turned to my loaf pans. Just to be extra safe, I also lined the pans with foil just as I do the square pans when I bake brownies; that way I was able to pull the gingerbread right out, peel off the foil and my loaf pans were spotless. And yes, oth loaves sunk in the middle – well, technically they didn’t sink because they just never rose. I wonder if any difference would be made if I hadn’t used flat Guiness (hubby’s leftover from the night before) and switched the baking powder for additional straight baking soda.
Just from tasting the batter, I know we’ll be eating this with eggnog or pumpkin ice cream, or whipped cream.
I’ve been making this for a few years and it always turns out great. This year I used Anchor Brewing’s Christmas ale — their spiced brown ale — and it was fabulous.
This is my FAVORITE recipe! I found it last year and was in heaven….waited all year just so I could make it again for Christmas. It is to die for!!!
I made this again for Christmas as well, though didn’t have a problem with sinking. I think she does have a warning about opening the oven too early causing this? What a really great cookbook though. All of the many, many things I’ve made from there have been fabulous. I made some really great pistacio saffron cookies from Demolition Desserts, which I highly recommend.
This is INSANELY good! It is too perfect – gorgeous! My mom and I made them into little mini-bundts. We filled the batter up to the top of our mini-bundt built for six pan – they all kind of baked up into each other, not too attractive at first. When we turned them out, besides being beautiful, the little over bake part had created a chewy skirt around the bottom of each that was so chewy and divine, yum yum, lip smacking – mini-skirts rule! (on this ginger bundt that is) Thank you Smitten – try the skirt!
What a coincidence! I use a similar gingerbread recipe with stout and baked it up as cupcakes with lemon-cream cheese frosting for a New Year’s Eve party. The words “insane” and “mouth orgasm” were heard, so I think it was a success. I also made the City Bakery caramel-almond-cranberry tart for the party after reading your post about it. OMG…so good. Thanks for the constant inspiration!
First, this cake is unbelievable. I love it. Spicy but mellow. Deep but not heavy. Really well balanced. Second, I lost the ENTIRE cake to my bundt pan. I fought the bundt pan and lost, badly. I have a scrabbly heap of deliciousness sitting before me. Guess what? I don’t care!!! I made it for the husband and I, not for a get together or anything, so we’re going to hunker down for the weekend with our scrabbly heap of goodness and go to town! :)
Next time, I’m doing it in two foil or parchment lined loaf pans.
This looks amazing. Is there any reason it wouldn’t work if I used blackstrap molasses?
Blackstrap molasses are very bitter. It is not that using them would cause the cake to be a disaster, but it might change the flavor profile into something you do not like.
This cake was great! We had it for breakfast with cream cheese on it. Marvelous!I don’t have a Bundt pan, so I put it in a 9 inch non-stick round buttered and floured with parchment on the bottom, no problem getting it out.
Hi
I have made this twice now, the first in a bundt as per directions and the second time (as per Deb’s suggestion) I split the recipe into two loaf pans. Both were incredible!! For the loaf pans I baked for about 40 minutes which was perfect. I froze one loaf after cutting it in half and gave it to my sister in law -thawed and they loved it. You really can’t mess this up, it stays perfectly after baking for a few days and freezes beautifully. They don’t rise very much, so the loafs are a bit flat, but that’s aesthetics more than anything
Tons of butter on the pan is a must however, it will stick to anything! Also a must is serving with freshly whipped cream (maybe with a tiny superfine sugar) Tip-use your immersion blender to whip the cream, changed my life
This is the absolute best gingerbread I have ever made – hands down. I baked it in a silicone loaf pan and it stuck a little (no big deal), but I would butter it next time. I’m also wondering if Reynolds Release foil would do the trick.
I divided the batter between the large loaf pan and a silicone muffin pan and took the muffins out after about 20 minutes. Okay, I confess – I couldn’t even wait for one muffin to cool before I ate it. The aroma was unbelievable, and I had no willpower whatsoever.
My teenage son, who normally does not like gingerbread, ginger cookies, etc., devoured this.
This recipe is a KEEPER!
I made it too and divided it into two loaf pans with great success. I’m living in the Czech Republic right now and I could only find blackstrap molasses. After doing some research about how this would change the flavor I decided to try it anyway and I loved the result! It was dark and densely flavorful and not bitter at all. Excellent recipe.
BEWARE! If you line the pans with foil, make sure it is flush with the sides or it will not cook properly! This seems like a beginner mistake, but I guess I don’t often line w/ foil. Tastes great though.
I love gingerbread! Try serving with fresh apple sauce or pears sauted in butter and brown suger — really over the top yummy with whipped cream!
I used a tablespoon of unsalted butter on the bundt cake pan, and it came out perfectly! Lucky me, I guess? Also, I used a lager (Yuengling) because I didn’t have any Guinness, and it was quite tasty.
I just finally got around to making this. Holy wow is it delicious. I added sliced pears to the bottom of mine and it was super tasty. I stole that idea from the Pearl Bakery in Portland, OR. I have never commented before but I have to tell you I love this blog. Everything I have duplicated has turned out fabulous and I’m always looking here for inspiration.
The sinking in these two cakes you mentioned is from a batter being too liquidy for the ingredients in it that give it structure to keep it up. Also the liquids in both the Honey Cake and the Claudia Fleming cake here are quite volatile.
Honey has enzymes in it that are impossible to kill and do funny things to eggs, for example. Guinness and molasses are extremely high in acid, and if this batter is not the exact right temperature, going into the exact right baking vessel, when all the stars are aligned just so, sinking will occur.
Batters that are basically liquid love shallow baking vessels, because of how heat distributes quickly and evenly through them, making for an even, efficient bake.
These acidic, volatile, liquid batters can’t reach very high, (no matter how many eggs, egg whites or chemical leavening you put in them,) so deep vessels are a struggle. And then you have the dreaded sink because after it struggles to reach, it has not enough structure to keep it there out of the oven, where it relies on structure ( = proteins) around air to keep its crumb intact.
All that said, this is a challenging recipe (I worked at Gramercy Tavern when it was in production) and my hat goes off to you for making it. For St. Patrick’s Day I will be making hundreds of them…
This is one of my favorite winter treats – I always make it as the holidays approach. Once had an elderly friend of my mother-in-law say that it is the closest she’s ever had to the gingerbread her own mother used to make, so I happily passed on the recipe.
Ha! I am now on round TWO of making this in one 24 hour period. I was in a rush the first time and accidentally put twice too much baking soda in it. DISASTER!! It totally boiled over in the oven and was a complete mess. But guess what… we still ate it. And ate it and ate it. It looked like a mangled wreck and was all gooey and weird but it tasted great! So now here I am at one o’clock in the morning making it again…. this time with the RIGHT amount of baking soda. If I can get it out of the pan in one smooth move I will be thrilled. This is a keeper. My family is nuts for anything with molasses, ginger, cardamom, etc. Thanks Deb!
“nteresting! There seem to be multiple versions of this cake online. The other version on Epicurious also suggests — in addition to swapping half the brown sugar with white sugar — grapeseed oil as an option (not only vegetable oil), uses half a tablespoon of baking soda instead of half a teaspoon and adds one tablespoon of freshly grated ginger at the end. Looks like both work and are raved over, so I am sure whichever you use, you will be pleased with.”
the other recipe says 1and a half tsp so maybe your half tsp was someone’s error?
Oh, my goodness. I’m trying out dairy-free recipes for a friend’s party, and this came out just astonishing. I had no problems with cake-loss from my 10-inch Bundt pan on the trial, but I did butter generously.
Yery good cake, with a perfect texture, but quite savory and not very redolent of ginger. I might up the ginger for next time. I did lose a bit off the sides even with much flouring, but sifted powdered sugar hid it perfectly. It does sink in the middle and was a little damp there, even when the rest of the cake was perfectly baked. But once you flip it out it’s really no big deal. I will definitely make again.
I just made this yesterday and it is delicious.
I didn’t feel like going out to get the beer, so I tried coffee as a substitute as someone had suggested. I hadn’t considered the extra acid that coffee would contribute when I added the baking soda- instant science experiment! The foam subsided by the time the mixture cooled, though.
I also used 2 loaf pans instead of a bundt and they worked fine.
The gingerbread was a smashing success at my husband’s birthday dinner party, served with fresh chunky applesauce and a dab of marscapone. I sacrificed my hardly if ever used angel food pan, as the Bundt pan went to Goodwill just prior to finding this fab recipe. With ample butter, it slid out perfectly!
THANK you so much for this absolutely beautiful website. I only wish I lived next door to help out with your o-so-beautiful bebe, watch you cook, and maybe even get a taste of all of these great recipes. THANKS!
Just made this tonight — it’s In. Credible. I used two loaf pans, oiled and floured the heck out of them, and cut the baking powder to one teaspoon. The loaves were still a little liquidy in the center at 40 minutes and I ended up leaving them in the oven for about 55. The loaves came out beautifully, with just a little crumb stuck to the pan, and they’re SO GOOD! I used fresh ginger, a couple of inches of root which probably worked out to 2 Tbsp. once grated. Oh my word. SO GOOD.
The smoke is almost gone from my kitchen.
Clearly my bundt pan wasn’t large enough – everything overflowed and caused mayhem. BUT the gooey bits that weren’t charcoal are good. I’m going to see how a half – cooked gingerbread cake does going back into the oven. I can’t bear to throw it away.
ACK. Use a large pan, this is wonderful gingerbread. :)
If you only cool for 5 minutes the cake will collapse on your counter when you turn it out. Five minutes is not long enough. Take if from me, we were eating gingerbread pieces. The second time I made this I let it sit the pan until it was cool and it turned out fine.
Oh, I just put this in the oven and I have two thoughts: One, I have never licked a bowl so clean….and two, save this recipe for LAST on your Thanksgiving to-do list, because I have polished off the remainder of the Guinness and am now a little too drunk for the resty of my cooking! Anything with Guinness is yummy to me (and molasses, I could drink it-and did when I was little, mixed with milk, yum!). Made the Chocolate Guinness Goodness on the Epicurious site for last year’s St. Pat’s, also YUM with Guinness being a key ingredient. My whole Thanksgiving menu owes its existence to Smitten Kitchen! Happy Thanksgiving.
This is my new favorite cake! my family loves ginger anything and i made this cake for them for the first time over thanksgiving. The cake did not make it past 2.5 days. (honestly, i think it tasted better on day two.) my dad was even picking at the crumbs left on the cake carrier. i did not have any issues with the cake sinking, but i did let it cool for about 10 min before popping it out on to a cooling rack. i will be making this over and over again!
one question, anyone tried baking this receipe in the small/mini bundt cake pans like this? http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Cast-Bundt-Quartet/dp/B001TRDQUO. I think they would make great chirstmas gifts but was not sure about how much batter or the bake time. Thanks!
I need to copy this recipe to my own files because I’ve been here about 50 times to look at it. I made this for our charity christmas bazaar and it was fantastic! I bought only one piece so I’ve been dying for more ever since.
Hello,
Awesome! And very close to a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe I’ve had for years. However, I have an original style Bundt pan which is large ( 15 cup ). Can anyone advise on expanding the recipe by 1/2? I don’t know enough about the chemistry but am sure you don’t just increase everything. Thanks.
Hi Charles — You would increase everything evenly. I used a 12-cup bundt pan, however, so you might only want to increase it by 1/4, tops.
Hi Deb,
I made this recipe last week, and it was just as delicious as you promised. I did, however, have MAJOR problems with the cake sticking to my bundt pan, even though I greased and floured it very generously like you recommended. I ended up having a good quarter of the cake stuck to the pan when I inverted it, which resulted in slight kitchen hysteria. Do you think I would have fewer problems next time if I make it in a tube pan? Thanks.
My house smells fantastic right now! Too bad I have to wait until the party tomorrow to try this– but the batter was the best cake batter I’ve ever tasted.
Just finished eating way too much of this. Delicious! I put the batter in 2 loaf pans and thought I was in the clear, but they definitely sank in the last few minutes. I lined the bottom with parchment and generously greased and floured, and had no problem with sticking. I found the cake a little oily for my preference, even after decreasing the oil by a tablespoon or two. I’m wondering if the texture would come out better by reducing the amount of beer? I also used slightly less than called for (noting the comments about very liquidy), and still found the cake overly moist. But wonderfully yummy.
I have made this twice now, the first time in a bundt pan and just tonight, in two loaf pans. I have to say that I had better results with the bundt pan. One loaf looks okay but the other didn’t rise like the other. Hmm. I scraped the last of the molasses from the bottom of the bowl and I think that resulted in the less-rise result. More chemistry than I understand. However, when I made the bundt cake, I misread the recipe (or probably just didn’t read carefully enough, which is typical) and put the baking soda in the flour mix instead of the guinness-molasses mix. I threw a little baking soda in the liquid after I realized my mistake thinking that it was going to be a disaster but it turned out fantastic! No sticking or sinking. I suspect it’s important not to overmix. Mmmmm. I never knew I loved gingerbread so much! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe.
I made this last night in two loaf pans. Baked for nearly 1 hour and they came out fine – the one closer to the hot spot in our oven had a bit of sinkage, but the other had much less. The very liquid batter baked up just fine.
I’m anti-fuss, ergo anti-bundt (I’m not scrubbing that!) so while I was making the batter I asked my husband to fit each loaf with parchment (engineer types do that nicely). Then I sprayed oil on the parchment – I can tell that the cake wanted to stick but it did not.
Also, on the chemical/structural advice email above, I had things ready so that when the soda hit the beer and molasses (which I didn’t boil, just melted and blended) it was pretty ready to hit the blended wet and dry ingredients. Then I hustled this heavy quickbread into the oven – I’d agree that you don’t want to let the propellants here sit and wilt – git ‘er in the oven.
This is AMAZING! Baked it as two loaves (mine took 45 minutes) and just tried one to see if I wanted to use this as my gifting recipe this year. Oh my gosh — one bite quickly turned into eating the whole darn piece — it’s absolutely heavenly! This is so good that it just might become what I gift every year!
Thank you so much for sharing. This is definitely a keeper :-)
Merry Christmas!
Tastes great!
But, the only reason I know is because the one loaf I got out came in pieces. I’m letting the rest cool a bit more, but…
This recipe definitely needs parchment/wax paper, at least along the bottom and 2 sides. I’m an *excellent* pan greaser/flourer, and was using premium pans.
I made 4 mini loafs (hoping the other 3 come out ok…they’re supposed to be gifts). They were done after 20-10-5 (rotating in my crappy oven at the dashes) mins.
I only used 1 tsp baking powder, and they still rose quite well. i had a bit of sinkage on one loaf, so you could probably go a bit lower.
This may be a silly question, but is Baker’s Joy (the butter/flour spray) an okay alternative? Are there instances when I should literally butter then flour (such as this cake that seems to be causing a bit of trouble)? I tend to stick with the spray for the convenience but am curious about this particular recipe. Thanks!
Shelly — Absolutely. I love that stuff. I want to marry it.
I just want to give your readers a little word of advice, and that is to not do what I did. If your grocery store doesn’t have molasses, don’t substitute extra brown sugar and DARK CORN SYRUP. If you forgot to stop and get a sixer of stout, do not continue to try and salvage this recipe! I subbed a dark porter for the stout and coupled with the corn syrup fiasco mentioned previously, this cake was nothing more than mediocre. But the strange thing was that it smelled so. damn. good. However, in the flavor department, there was something lacking, and the crumb was a little coarse. :(
Okay, people, what. am. I. doing. wrong? I made this recipe 6 times (in the last 2 days!) and all but two small loaf pans came out. I did Everything Everyone Cautioned Me To Do….the right booze, molasses, buttering, flouring, etc..but the batter fizzed up like a volcano erupting (all over my oven floor) and then SANK like the Titanic. Now, I’ll tell you that the loaves that survived (no overflowing and just a “little” sinkage, Tasted Great! But the last bundt attempt I had to throw OUT – with the pan….I’m so sad. I wanted to give this great tasting gingerbread as gifts – lucky two friends….
Seriously, what is wrong with (1)the recipe (I wish:)) or (2) what I’m doing???? HELP!
Thanks for listening…..
Ingrid
Deb, this bundt was THE HIT of my family’s Christmas this year. It’s going on the “traditions to keep” list. Thank you so much. We also made and loved the strata!
This was a big hit for Christmas as well – my mother literally couldn’t gather words to describe it!!! I made a cinnamon whipped cream to serve with it and it was just amazing… though my family is starting to question why I am always cooking with booze – I am a big fan of using Guiness in recipes (and bourbon for that matter)… thanks again for a wonderful recipe!!!
I made this for Christmas Eve dinner to go with the vanilla-roasted pears (see post there). My seven-year-old nephew, who I expected to either spit it out if he was tired and cranky or decline to eat it if he was on his best behavior for Santa, asked for seconds! This is almost unprecedented, and attests to the deliciousness of this recipe.
I had no sinkage, but I was a bit overenthusiastic about the buttering and flouring of the pan, and ended up with a few floury spots on the surface. A sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar solved that problem, though. Thanks for another great recipe, Deb!
I made this for Christmas, and did not hold back when it came to the “butter and flour” moment. I was concerned about the same issue as Tracy, but the cake came out of the pan perfectly, with no flour marring it. I think the trick may be to VERY generously butter the pan–I used 1/3 cup of soft butter– and REALLY knock out the extra flour. I banged the pan against the sink I was shaking the flour into, and that did the job. The recipe overall was straightforward–I was able to make it in the middle of Christmas preparations without losing my mind, and it was LOVED by all ten dinner guests. Out of necessity, I served it about six hours after it came out of the oven and it was great. And, three days later, the last sliver was great.
I made this for Christmas also and it was a big hit. I love how spicy it is. I buttered VERY generously and had no problems getting it out of my bundt pan. My guests were very impressed with how nice it looked, and how nice it tasted.
I made these for a pre-Christmas dinnertime get-together–but as cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were INCREDIBLE! They did sink, so next time I might try a bit less baking powder, but I just filled in the dents with more frosting. It was a win-win, for sure.
The recipe made 12 cupcakes, for the record.
I just made this for my housemate’s birthday. I modified the recipe a fair amount — used whole wheat flour and (to accommodate this) upped the amount of baking powder & baking soda, as well as adding an egg. I also used a “dark ale” instead of stout. I also try to limit sugar, so I did 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup agave and 1/3 cup maple syrup. I served it with homemade plum sauce — the sweet/tart added a great dimension.
Maybe I have just created a totally new recipe, but I got lots of moans of happiness and several, “Would you make cake more often?” requests.
So, thank you!
I love your site. Have lurked here for ages now, and the chocolate-stout cake has blown the socks off anyone I know well enough to willingly share it with.
Made this gorgeous cake yesterday [I loved bundts. Any food with a hole in it has a huge head start on others.] and it rocked.
But you already know that. What I originally came here to post was: I’m out of icing sugar, so I greased up the pan generously w/butter, then sprinkled it carefully with turbinado sugar [over the sink], starting with the centre tube. Cake came out no sweat [after 8-9mins of cooling] and had this glossly, slightly crunchy thing going for it. Mmmm. Thanks so much this kick-ass recipe!
Is NO ONE else having the problem of erupting and then sinkage? I’m like a dog on a bone with this recipe – it TASTES so GOOD but something “just ain’t right” – should I up or down the soda or baking powder? PLEASE someone help me out on this!
THANKS!
It worked, it worked! I think I let the cake cool in the pan closer to ten minutes because I was distracted, but I greased and floured my Bundt pan and the cake popped out no problem. Thanks Deb!
Gingerbread in chilly January is tasty. Most important thing learned: pay attention when Deb says to use a large saucepan for the beer and molasses. Let’s just say I wasn’t thinking, had an overflow situation and had to redo that step. Since I used a bundt, there didn’t seem to be much of a shrinkage situation. The exterior of my cake a day or two later is a tad moist, but in a chewy nice way. I didn’t use the confectioner sugar dusting for that reason (it woulda been too sticky I think). As always, thanks for sharing a yummy recipe!
It worked fantastically! I am sorry to say (well, pleased for myself) that I can’t help those having trouble because it came out beautifully by following the instructions. I ended up using one VERY long loaf pan (after verifying that it holds more than 12 cups) and it sank the tiniest bit after coming out, and it stuck a little in the middle, but I have a feeling it was due to the length and depth of the pan. Will butter and flour more next time to be sure. Thanks for the amazing recipe!