Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread

This is my desert-island dessert, as in all-time favorite. So flavorful, so texturally pleasing. I make it every year for Thanksgiving. I follow the recipe to the letter and butter and flour the heck out of the pan to prevent sticking. It's amazing.

• SF

• Portland, OR

• 2/25/2022

喜欢这个姜饼。我做调整usi的糖ng 1 cup of applesauce instead of 1 cup of white sugar, and to compensate for the liquid nature of applesauce, reduce the stout by ¼ cup. Also, because I typically have blackstrap molasses and light brown sugar on hand, I use those instead of regular molasses and dark brown sugar. All works great! This gingerbread has become tradition in our house. Just fantastic.

• TracyP

• Oakland, CA

• 12/29/2021

Ooops, my star rating says 1 star....but I meant to put in 5 stars. Make this every Christmas, to the delight of friends and family. It is fabulous and rich and decadent. I add sugared cranberries to the top before the powdered sugar. Its like Christmas in a tin! Wonderful

• Seth

• Coast of Maine

• 12/11/2021

This is a really good product. It is much fussier than the recipe implies. Kudos to SHAWNAMUFFIN TEXAS comments and strongly recommend looking them up. Basically, SIFE all dry ingredients well; mix eggs and sugars in standing mixer well, at least 3 minutes. Alternate dry ingredients and molasses mixture into the egg/sugar mixture just till blended which will be easy to do if you sift first. Over mixing will cause the centers to fall. also reduce the baking powder to 3/4 tsp or 1 tsp vs 1.5 tsp. I make them in 1 pound mini loaf foil tins, well oiled and baked at 35 - 40 minutes. When completely cooled and frosted (I make a salted caramel butter cream) and sealed with the clear plastic container lid. They hold in the fridge very well for days but freeze beautifully slipped into a zipper lock bag, for months. Thaw at room temp with lid removed. When all is said and done it is an excellent gingerbread, however you modify it the basic recipe is good.

• Kitchen Bitch

• Alaska

• 12/11/2021

For what it's worth, I've never had this cake stick to the pan, even though my bundt pan has fluting! I just make sure to butter and flour the pan extremely thoroughly (more so than I would for another recipe). This is my favorite gingerbread recipe I've ever tried - it's so wonderfully flavorful. I make it every Christmas, and I look forward to it all year.

• Lizzy

• 12/11/2021

I was on a search for the best gingerbread because it's my husband's favourite, and I have stopped here. It is the BEST. I usually double recipe and have done it in a 9x13 pan, 2 cake pans, and 1 cake pan and bread loaf pan. Always grease pans, add parchment, and grease and flour. I let it 'burn' just a little bit on the edge, it is delicious and you get this crispy carmelized crust.It also reheats beautifully in the oven after a couple of days. I always serve with Bobby Flay's Salted Caramel sauce and a dollop of whip cream. Put caramel sauce on the plate not on top so the cake crust stays crispy. It's a real winner. PS: use a BIG pot for molasses and stout because it really foam up and you do not want this sticky mess on your stovetop.

• oakvillejen

• Oakville, Ontario

• 12/13/2020

I've been making this recipe for ten years! It is a bit finicky, or you'll get a gob of goo that won't come out of the pan easily. As others have said, I reduce the sugar a bit (3/4 c of the white sugar) and use a baking spray that has flour in it to coat the pan. The amount of ginger is up to your taste. I use 3 tbs. I used to add fresh ginger and candied ginger, but it didn't actually help the flavor in the end and actually made it harder to get out of the pan. First thing I do is boil the molasses and stout. Then I transfer it to a Pyrex measuring cup and put it in the fridge (or outside, if it's cold). Otherwise, it takes forever to get to room temperature. Then I coat the pan and preheat the oven, then measure and sift the dry ingredients. Sifting is crucial; I do it twice. The batter is too wet for letting hard pebbles of dried ginger get into your cake. Push the dry ingredients through a sieve if you don't have a sifter! I use the KitchenAid mixer because the eggs won't develop enough structure if I'm whisking by hand. That's why you can get a fallen gingerbread—if the egg whites aren't doing their job. My first mixing step is beating the sugars and eggs together for 3 minutes or so, until you can see the eggs getting a bit ropey. Then I add the oil in a stream. Then I alternate the flour and molasses mixtures (1/3 flour, 1/2 molasses, 1/3 flour, 1/2 molasses, 1/3 flour). That way, the dry ingredients don't clump. It's basic cake-making procedure, but these restaurant recipes often skip using that sort of protocol...but it's necessary!

• ShawnaMuffin

• Texas

• 11/14/2020

Strange... I followed the directions to a T TWICE this evening and both cakes fell... I guess I'm off to make a trifle. I'm disappointed because I've eaten it for years as a friend makes it following the above recipe. Maybe it's my oven? But I see others posted that their fell. Sigh.

• Anonymous

• Columbia, SC

• 12/25/2019

I made one intentional change (Hairless Dog nonalcoholic dark ale instead of stout) and one unintentional change (I bought molasses that didn't say "blackstrap" on the front label but did list blackstrap as the only ingredient in the fine print). The result was very moist and exceedingly sweet.

• ellensalias

• St Paul, MN

• 12/24/2019

I always make a recipe first as written and may change some things in next attempt if I think it is needed. I would not change a thing about this recipe- it’ just that perfect.

• giovanna711

• Philadelphia, PA

• 12/21/2019

Yes, this is THE gingerbread cake to make. As mentioned below, grease your fluted bundt pan REALLY well (and flour) and it should come out easily. I thought this was really sweet and will try decreasing the 2 sugars (keeping all the molasses) about a quarter cup each. Some others have tried to decrease the sugar below and seemed happy with the results, so I think it's worth a try! I served mine with homemade pineapple-ginger ice cream.

• dp_coppola

• Cambridge, MA

• 1/31/2019

最好的姜饼食谱——潮湿,黑暗,辣and just perfect. I've been make this for years to great success. People now demand it each holiday season. I find that using a brush and melted butter, plus sugar rather than flour to grease the pan--even a deeply fluted one-- will result in the cake releasing quite easily. You can even make this as cupcakes to avoid the bundt issue altogether, just decrease the baking time by about half. On my last outing with this recipe, I only had 3/4 cup blackstrap molasses on hand. I added a 1/4 cup of Lyle's Golden Syrup to make up the difference, and it still came out wonderfully.

• leslieruth

• Brooklyn, NY

• 1/4/2019

This is an outstanding cake. As to the sticking issue, I have learned from experience that it will release fine from a well-greased SIMPLE Bundt pan (no deep fluting), but sticks badly in a more elaborate design. I will make this cake over and over in the simple pan.

• Harrietvane

• New York, NY

• 12/28/2018

Help, I love this cake and have made it many times. Today and out of practice, I made one that fell in the middle of the bunt pan, thinking I miss measured the ingredients made a second and it did the same thing, it too fell. An ideas what I am doing wrong? maybe not letting the molassas stout mixture cool long enough? Flavor still wonderful, not to go to waste, will cut the pieces up and make a gingerbread trifle with roasted pears and custard sauce.

• jklang

• San Antonio, TX

• 12/10/2018

I have been making this for over a decade....and there is a reason. It always turns out and is delicious! I make it as it but I do add a bit more of each spice in and a few times have added chopped candied ginger. The batter is thin, don't be worried, it will bake just fine. I use a deeply fluted bundt pan generously sprayed with Pam. Bake to internal temp of 212 degrees. Let it cool about five minutes and flip it out-never had a problem. I top with powdered sugar and unsweetened vanilla whip cream on the side.

• la2atx

• Austin, TX

• 12/29/2017