George Washington's mother may have served this spicy, buttery, raisin-spiked gingerbread cake to her son's lieutenant general (and the dessert's namesake), the Marquis de Lafayette in the 1780s, but we first baked a version of it in SAVEUR No. 9 (Nov/Dec 1995). Most recently, it ran in our Jan/Feb 2014 SAVEUR 100 issue with the article 20 Years of SAVEUR: Gingerbread Dreams.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour, plus more
- 2 tbsp. ground ginger
- 1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp. ground mace
- 1 cup raisins
- 3⁄4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp. grated orange zest, plus ⅓ cup fresh juice
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
- 1⁄2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup unsulfured molasses
- 3 eggs
- Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
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Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 350°. Whisk flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and mace in a bowl. Stir raisins, buttermilk, orange zest, and juice in another bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Stir in molasses. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, until smooth. Add dry and wet ingredients alternately, beginning and ending with dry, beating until smooth. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Let cool before slicing; serve with whipped cream, if you like.
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