Gingerbread Loaves with Lemon Glaze

I know that this is an awfully Christmas-y recipe, but I want to bake so many holiday treats that I run out of time to post everything in December. So I decided to start early! We had a holiday earlier in the week and my sister-in-law came over and we baked these loaves. She mentioned wanted to make something like gingerbread, and I had this recipe ready to go.

This is a really interesting gingerbread in that the batter calls for a big selection of spices, including ground mustard. I really wasn’t sure about this, but I figured it would just add to the flavor profile. The recipe also calls for fresh ginger. I used ginger paste, which comes in a tube from the produce section at the grocery store. You could also grind fresh ginger and soak it in water. I chose the easier route.

I baked these loaves in two medium pans (8” x 4”) and it makes for a fairly small loaf. That was good in my case as we kept one and sent one home with my sister-in-law. I think baking one loaf in a larger pan would make for a more impressive-looking loaf. Either would work, you would just need to adjust the baking time. I baked my loaves for about 35 minutes; a larger loaf would certainly bake longer. This bread has a very distinct ginger flavor, and maybe isn’t as sweet as some gingerbread you may encounter.

Gingerbread Loaves with Lemon Glaze

1 cup sugar

10 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Zest of 1 orange

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 tsp. ground mustard

3 tablespoons ginger paste

Juice of one lemon

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two 8” x 4” loaf pans or one large 9” x 5” loaf pan.

In a large mixer bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light. Add the eggs and eat until fluffy.  With the mixer running on low, add the buttermilk, orange zest, flour, baking soda, salt, spices, and ginger paste. Stir until just combined. The mixture may be a little lumpy. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of pan, until golden brown and the tops spring back when touched. If the top of the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, cover with foil the last 10-15 minutes of baking. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes; remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl combine the powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make a glaze of drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled loaf/loaves.

Recipe from Pinch of Yum