This super easy gingerbread loaf cake is heavily spiced, with a perfect moist texture. It comes together in only a saucepan and a bowl. Gingerbread loaf makes the perfect gift, or is great to have on hand if you need a homemade loaf cake filled with holiday flavours.

Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for this homemade gingerbread loaf! This easy loaf recipe is great to have on hand or as a quick back pocket recipe if you need something easy to take somewhere or to serve.
This gingerbread loaf is heavily spiced, and has an amazing moist texture. It comes together in just a saucepan and a bowl, and while it does have a low, slow bake time, I promise you that it is so, so worth it.
I love making loaf cakes and other quick bread recipes like my banana bread recipe and my lemon poppy seed loaf cake , but there is just something about a super spicy, perfectly moist gingerbread loaf cake. I made this about eight times while I was testing and truly never got sick of it - I know you will love it just as much as I do, and it stores super well both at room temperature or in the freezer.
If you are after more recipes with this classic gingerbread flavour, check out my easy gingerbread cookies , or my homemade gingersnap cookie recipe .
Ingredients in Gingerbread Loaf Cake
This gingerbread loaf cake is super easy to make - it does have a few different spices in the mix, but you can mix and match depending on what you have!
- Treacle. I did a bunch of tests using molasses, golden syrup, and treacle, using different sugars and experimenting, and found treacle gave me the best flavour and texture in the gingerbread cake.
- Butter. I use unsalted butter here - you can use salted if that's what you have, just leave out the salt in the recipe.
- Milk. Whole milk goes straight into the warmed up butter and treacle mix to help chill it out a little bit.
- Eggs. Just two large eggs, which help hold the loaf cake together!
- All-purpose flour. The batter will seem super wet - don't worry, this is a very moist cake, super wet is what we are after here.
- Granulated sugar. I tested this with both brown sugar and granulated sugar (and a mix of both), and found that granulated sugar and treacle was the best combination.
- Spices. I use a mixture here - mainly ginger, but then also some mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.
- Baking powder and baking soda. Please make sure that both are up to date and not expired - I got caught out by this recently and it took me forever to work out why things were baking up flatter than they usually do!
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Every now and then a super simple recipe will catch me out and send me down a recipe testing rabbit hole - this gingerbread loaf cake was one of them.
Because I have an international audience, I like to cross test recipes with different ingredients that I know are easier to get in different places - for example, I make this cake with treacle, but wanted to test if it worked well with molasses too.
This was a particularly interesting test, and I found out a few things. First - the difference between molasses, treacle, and golden syrup. All three are sugar syrups, the difference between them is how much they are cooked down, which then changes both the viscosity and taste of them, along with the acidity (with golden syrup being the least acidic and molasses being the most).
This changed how they interacted with the baking soda in the recipe which is alkaline. Acid plus base = carbon dioxide = gives rise to the loaf cake. Because there is a large quantity of treacle in the recipe, substituting for golden syrup or molasses isn't just a direct switch.
White sugar and brown sugar also interact differently with baking soda. Brown sugar is made with molasses, which is acidic, so too much brown sugar in the recipe = baking soda is overpowered = loaf cake does not rise.
Here are a few of my tests in the image below:
- Golden Syrup plus brown sugar. Golden syrup is the least acidic of the three syrups, so worked fine with brown sugar, however I much preferred the taste and texture of the treacle recipe.
- Treacle plus brown sugar plus white sugar. The combination of treacle and brown sugar was too much for the baking soda and overwhelmed it, giving a cake that was a bit flatter and not as nice of a texture.
- Treacle plus white sugar. This was my favourite of these three tests - the treacle and the baking soda interact to give the loaf cake rise, while also providing a nice texture and a nice rich finish.
- Not pictured - Molasses. I tested the original recipe with molasses too, but it was far too rich for the recipe and resulted in a super sunken, super sticky cake.
So - can I use golden syrup instead of treacle?
If you want to make substitutions, unfortunately, this isn't a recipe that you can use molasses in in the place of the treacle as a straight sub. You are welcome to try but you will need to change the leavening agent, and it may not turn out.
If you only have golden syrup and would like to use that instead of treacle, that will work fine - substitute the granulated sugar for brown sugar. It will come out a little lighter in flavour, but it will still be delicious!
How to get the perfect crack on a loaf cake
This is a sneaky trick that I use for my lemon poppyseed cake to control where the crack happens - I pipe a thin line of softened butter down the middle of the cake. I just place some into a piping bag or a ziplock and snip the end off, then pipe a thin line.
What this does is creates a place of least resistance when the butter melts, so the loaf cracks directly down the middle. This is a totally optional step , but I like sharing my little tips and tricks in case you want to try them at home too.
I know that dipping a knife in oil or melted butter and running it down the centre will also work too!
Can Gingerbread Loaf be made ahead?
The great thing about this gingerbread loaf cake is that it is amazing to make ahead. It is super moist, and I actually find that the flavours develop over time, and it is better the day or two after you make it. Make it a day or two ahead and store at room temperature wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container.
How to freeze Gingerbread Loaf
This gingerbread loaf cake also freezes amazingly. You can either store the whole thing wrapped up, or I like to wrap the slices up individually tightly in plastic wrap and freeze them, so that I don't have to defrost the whole loaf. Defrost at room temperature then lightly toast before eating.
How do you store gingerbread loaf?
Store your gingerbread loaf cake either wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my
products page
Which pan did you use?
I made my gingerbread loaf cake in a pullman pan , but a large loaf pan will work well too! You can also split it into two smaller loaves - just be aware that you will need to reduce the bake time for a smaller loaf.
What is the best way to serve gingerbread loaf?
I love to eat my gingerbread loaf cake sliced thick with butter. You can also butter it and fry in a pan, or toast lightly in the oven or toaster oven before adding the butter.
Where can I get treacle?
I just get mine at the supermarket as it is super easy to find in NZ, but if it's not easy to find locally to you, I would suggest looking online!
For more loaf cake recipes, check out:
Made this recipe and love it?
If you made this recipe then I would LOVE for you to leave me a review below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram if you make it!
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It is important to note the type of salt that is called for in a recipe. I use Diamond Crystal salt throughout my recipes - if you use a different sort of kosher salt or regular table salt you will need to adjust accordingly as some salt is 'saltier' than others. Morton's salt is twice as salty, so you will need half the quantity. Same goes for a regular table salt. I am working to get gram measurements throughout my recipes for salt but still getting there.
All oven temperatures are conventional unless otherwise stated. If you are baking on fan / convection, you will need to adjust the temperature. An oven thermometer is a great investment to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.
Using the double / triple function in the recipe card
You will notice that there is a '1X' '2X' '3X' button in my recipe card. This can be used for doubling or tripling a recipe. However, please note that this only doubles the ingredient quantities in the ingredients list and NOT in the method. If there are quantities or pan sizes in the method of the recipe (for example weigh out 150g brown butter), you will need to scale this number manually. It will also not change the baking time in the recipe so you will need to adjust this yourself too. It is always a good idea to read through a recipe fully before doubling it just to check this. If you would like to scale this recipe or convert for another pan size, use my calculator !
Tools and equipment
For a list of my go-to tools and equipment, I have a post you can refer to here .
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it is the most accurate way to bake. Cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide. There is no way for me to provide one cup measure that works for everyone. However, posting in weight fixes this issue. If you would like the recipe in cups you are welcome to convert it yourself via google, but please do not ask me to do it for you as I am not comfortable providing a recipe using a method that I have not tested. Baking with a scale is easy, accurate, and also makes cleanup super simple. Here is the scale that I use if you would like a recommendation! Here's to accurate baking!
Print168极速赛车app下载-168极速赛车开奖官网计划-极速赛车开奖结果
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1 x
- Category: Loaf cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: New Zealand
Description
This super easy gingerbread loaf cake is heavily spiced, with a perfect moist texture. It comes together in only a saucepan and a bowl. Gingerbread loaf makes the perfect gift, or is great to have on hand if you need a homemade loaf cake filled with holiday flavours.
Ingredients
- 300g Treacle
- 225g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine
- 250g whole milk, cold from the fridge is fine
- 300g all-purpose flour, sifted
- 180g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp ( 15g ) ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 2 large eggs ( 100g without the shell), at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°f / 150°c. Grease and line a pullman loaf pan or a large loaf pan with butter and parchment paper, leaving some overhang - you can clip this down with binder clips if you like.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the treacle and butter. Melt together over a medium heat, stirring occasionally and making sure that it does not boil. Once the mixture is melted, remove from the heat and add the milk to cool the mixture down slightly. Leave to stand for 10 minutes so that it does not scramble the eggs.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir together until well combined.
- Once the treacle mixture has cooled slightly, add the eggs to the mixture and whisk well to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and whisk well to combine until the mixture is smooth and lump free.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
- Bake the gingerbread loaf for 1 hour and 20 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (make sure that you poke it right down to the bottom of the pan to check).
- Remove the gingerbread loaf from the oven and leave to cool in the pan then transfer to a wire rack.
- Serve thickly sliced with lots of butter.
- Store leftover gingerbread loaf either in an airtight container or well wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Al Brown
Do not confuse mixed spice and allspice for the same thing - they are not. Mixed spice is a blend. If you do not have it, use a pumpkin pie spice blend or more cinnamon.
Please see the notes in the blog post for the difference between treacle, golden syrup, and molasses.
Keywords: Gingerbread, Ginger Cake, Gingerbread Loaf Cake
Comments
gets better every day!
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gets better each day!
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delicious toasted!
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Erin, I'm dying to try out your lovely gingerbread loaf however the whole "treacle/golden syrup/molasses" thing is giving me fits!!
Amazon's choices are limited to golden syrup Or black treacle which looks just like blackstrap molasses so I won't go there.
Is there no happy medium between the two, even tho your recipe notes claim there is?? So confusing...
Btw, I'm in upstate New York - just far enough from the City to warrant a "Huhhh??" when researching anything with International flavor!!
Hiiii! I think 'black treacle' is just regular treacle!
Do you think 1/2 golden syrup and 1/2 molasses might make a decent substitute for treacle?
I'm not sure sorry, it might be ok but because it's adjusting the acidity overall I can't be sure of the outcome.
Amazing! So much fun to make and so easy. For me, eating the finished result was like eating gingerbread for the first time - so moist and tasty.
I enjoyed learning the science behind the choice of ingredients; it’s empowering to know the reasons for using treacle and white (granulated sugar).
The moment I tasted the first loaf, I baked another one - great Christmas gifts.
Next time, I’ll try putting the batter into two smaller pans - any suggestions on reduced baking time, Erin?
Question: your blog said you used allspice but I couldn’t find this in the recipe itself. Do you recommend including allspice?
Looking forward now to making your lemon poppyseed loaf.
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This gets better each day it sits. Can’t stop eating it with butter on top!
This loaf was so YUM. Soft but with a wonderful almost dense texture. It’s already gone. Quite a big recipe and was at the max capacity once cooked for my loaf tin - so will split next time I make it.. which will likely be tomorrow! 😂
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OMG Gingerbrad loaf is my favoryie holiday treat me and this looks so amazing. Excuse me while I go start a loaf 😄
Such a fantastic recipe! Tried Erin’s gingerbread cookies and they were so great I tried this as well. I substituted and used golden syrup and brown sugar and it’s delicious!
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Okay so I committed the sin and used what I had on hand - molasses and honey. Can say it was delicious - didn't sink but want as glorious as yours.
Every single one of your recipes is a winner Erin! Even for those that rarely follow a recipe perfectly.
Thankyou!
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Delicious! So easy to make and tastes so good. Even better, it's still moist and super tasty a couple of days later.
I did underestimate the size of my large loaf pan so the bottom of my oven got to enjoy a bunch too.. whoops. Will split into two two pans next time, or upgrade to a bigger pan.
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Oh my goodness Erin, you've outdone yourself with this recipe! I've had this loaf cake sitting covered on my kitchen bench for a full week, and it continues to be the most tender and delicious Christmas morsel. This is going to be a year round thing.
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