Gingerbread Loaf Cake

Season's Curtain Call

A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summers wave good bye.

Cook's notes: Gingerbread loaf cake is a quintessential fall dessert that is delicious. The addition of applesauce makes it a very moist cake.  A maple flavored cream cheese frosting adds just the perfect touch to the cake. It can be served as a dessert or a breakfast item.  

The recipe was labeled as a copycat Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf Cake. I made some adaptations to the original recipe but here's a link to the original recipe.  

http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2011/12/starbucks-gingerbread-loaf/

Ingredients for the gingerbread loaf

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. Saigon cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tsp. dried ginger
• 1/8 tsp. allspice
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. orange extract
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Ingredients for the frosting:

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. maple syrup
• 2½ cups confectioner’s sugar
• milk
• chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350˚ Grease a loaf pan (9×5″), you could also use two mini loaf pans.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt, then set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in orange extract.
• Mix baking soda into applesauce and stir into creamed butter mixture. Add flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
• For the icing, beat cream cheese, vanilla and maple syrup. Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar. Add milk as needed until right frosting consistency. 
• Once the cake has cooled, evenly spread the frosting on top. Sprinkle chopped walnuts or pecan on top.

Fresh Ginger

It is peppery and slightly sweet. Store it unpeeled in a resealable plastic bag with the air pressed out. It should keep for two months in the fridge or six months in the freezer. 


Ground Ginger-is the dried powdered form of fresh ginger. Because it varies in strength, don't substitute in recipes calling for fresh. It's a key ingredient in gingerbread. 

Crystallized Ginger-sometimes called candied ginger. It is fresh ginger that's been peeled and simmered in a sugar syrup, then dried. It's often used in desserts but also good at settling an upset stomach.