Gingerbread Loaf

I know, it's past the holidays, but it's still winter.  And as long as the conspiracy to not sell glacé fruits so people can't bake fruitcake persists, I will come up with alternatives.

I made only tiny changes to I Am Baker's recipe.  First, I cut it in half and made it in two mini loaf pans, after deciding not to use the 6" round cake pan.  I felt like slicing it, rather than cutting wedges.  You can also use it to make muffins.  It's a quick bread/muffin recipe.  Next, I opted for low-fat plain yogurt instead of buying sour cream.  I already had the yogurt.  And I added some crystallized ginger that was supposed to go into fruitcake or stollen, decreasing the brown sugar in the recipe a tiny bit to compensate by not packing it.

I made this on a somewhat cold day, so it took longer for the refrigerated ingredients to come up to "room temperature" than to make it after that.  With a low-moisture recipe, you definitely want to start with everything the same temperature.  Otherwise, the batter will break.  I'm not sure if it was the butter or yogurt that stayed a little lumpy, but it did melt in the oven.

1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C + 2 Tb light brown sugar, lightly packed
*1/4 C + 2 Tb molasses
1 egg, room temp
*1/2 C sour cream or yogurt, room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 Tablespoon ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
*1/4 C chopped crystallized ginger, optional

1.  Prepare one 6" cake pan, 2 mini loaf pans, or about 8 muffin cups with pan spray.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  Cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Add molasses, egg, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3.  Separately, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Toss crystallized ginger in 1 Tb of the flour mixture and set aside.

4.  Once the liquid ingredients are smooth, add the flour and stir until just combined.  Add ginger pieces and the reserved flour and stir again to distribute.  Do not overmix.

5.  Portion batter into pan or muffin cups.  Bake 20 minutes for muffins, 30 for loaves.  Start checking with a toothpick at that time.  Center should not be wet.  Wait about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool thoroughly.

6.  If desired, dust cooled loaf with powdered sguar or drizzle with a glaze.  Keeps room temperature 2 days, in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer for at least a month.

Serves about 6

Difficulty rating  π