I spent a lot of time picking out what to make for Anya’s first birthday cake — chocolate doesn’t seem like a good thing to feed a little kid. I wanted it to have flavor — not just eating sugar. I found an old fashioned gingerbread cake recipe that looked perfect — a lot of the sweetness comes from molasses. Anya likes pumpkin puree spiced with ginger and cinnamon, so it’s a familiar flavor. Plus it’s cake 🙂

 

Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup dark molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 cup boiling water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Grease and flour an 8” round cake pan
3. Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Add the butter, molasses and egg and beat by hand for two minutes.
5. Add the boiling water.
6. Beat for another two minutes and pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.