A sour note

So because my man and I are hosting my family’s Christmas gathering this year at our place, I wanted to make something really special to contribute to the festivities. Now I know that there are many people in my family who are large fans of gingerbread, and so this idea happened. I call it my Sourdough Gingerbread Loaf, and it brings together the warming spices of gingerbread with an added sourdough tang, complimented by a rich vanilla cream cheese frosting. It really is everything you love about gingerbread. The best part might be the slightly crunchy edges with a soft, tender crumb.

It's the perfect spice cake to serve with hot cocoa or eggnog to celebrate the festive season!

My favourite thing about this recipe is that it is a simple quick bread recipe that will give you the best sourdough gingerbread loaf with no fancy ingredients or trips to the store necessary. You can just use what you have in your pantry to create something truly special. It uses apple sauce to keep it moist, rather than sour cream or yogurt, plus the added vitamins and fibre aren’t too bad either!

You can either use 150g of sourdough discard, or else feel free to use active sourdough starter with no issue in this recipe if you prefer.

Bake in either a standard loaf pan or a sheet pan (although you may need to double the quantities depending on the size).

You can ferment this sourdough gingerbread cake overnight if you wish. All you have to do is mix together all of the ingredients, except for the baking powder and baking soda. Place the batter in the fridge for up to 12 hours. When you're ready to bake, add the baking powder and baking soda before pouring into a loaf pan and baking as per the recipe instructions.

Store unfrosted cake in an airtight container for around 3 days. This cake is super moist so it doesn't dry out quickly. Once the cake is iced, switch to storing in the fridge. When it's time to serve, allow the cake to sit at room temperature for around 20 minutes for best flavor and texture.

Sourdough Gingerbread Loaf Cake:

·      110 grams butter (softened at room temp)

·      100 grams white sugar

·      100 grams brown sugar (light or dark is fine

·      5 grams vanilla extract

·      1 egg

·      250 grams apple sauce (unsweetened)

·      150 grams sourdough starter (or sourdough discard)

·      200 grams all-purpose flour

·      10 grams baking soda

·      5 grams baking powder

·      2 to 3 tsp. gingerroot (ground)

·      2 tsp. cinnamon (ground)

·      ½ tsp. cloves (ground)

·      ½ tsp. nutmeg (ground)

Vanilla Frosting (Optional):

·      125 grams cream cheese (softened at room temp)

·      75 grams butter (softened at room temp)

·      220 grams powdered sugar

·      5 grams vanilla extract

·      50 grams pecans (chopped, optional topping)

1)   Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and grease a loaf pan with butter or cooking spray; set aside

2)   In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar using a whisk

3)   Add the vanilla extract, egg and apple sauce to the bowl and whisk until well-combined

4)   Add the sourdough starter and whisk it into the batter (the mixture will become thick and marshmallow-like)

5)   Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices into the bowl and use a spatula to gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Make sure you don’t over mix the batter!

6)   Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with the spatula, ensuring that the batter is evenly distributed

7)   Bake for around 1 hour at 180C (350F) or until a toothpick comes out clean

8 )   Once it is done baking, remove the loaf from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for around 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely

9)   While the sourdough gingerbread loaf cake is cooling, add all of the frosting ingredients to a bowl and whisk together until light and fluffy. Spread onto cooled loaf cake and top with chopped pecans

The best Christmas gingerbread loaf, with a bit of added sourdough magic!