This George Washington Gingerbread Recipe Has Been Famous For Years
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Take a Bite of the Past and Eat like George Washington for Christmas
This historical recipe for gingerbread was originally written down by Mary Ball Washington, George Washington’s mother, who legend says would bake this recipe every Christmas season. I love the idea that we can literally taste history in this recipe, and it’s sooo delicious!
Mary’s recipe was written down in a journal; however, the journal was shoved in a box and lost to the ages for years until its rediscovery in 1922 by a couple of women belonging to The Daughters of the American Revolution. They published the recipe as “Lafayette Gingerbread” because Mary served this exact gingerbread to the Marquis de Lafayette when he crossed the pond for a stately visit.
The ingredients may seem fairly common today, like cinnamon and brown sugar, but many of these were very special, almost high-class ingredients back in the mid-1700s. Oranges were a special gift because they had to be shipped by tall-masted sailing ships from the tropics which could take several weeks to arrive at their destinations.
Ginger has ‘spiced up’ the world trade since the 1500s
I found this recipe in a fantastic cookbook called “American Cake” by Anne Byrn which you can find on Amazon. It contains many historical cake recipes and I love reading through the history of these famous cakes. It’s a great gift to give to anyone who loves baking!
It’s generally known that gingerroot is originally from tropical southeast Asia, and was spread anciently by native peoples to other faraway places, such as India and Figi.
Ginger was known for being more than just tasty back then; it was traded around the world since the 1600s and was used to aid sailors with seasickness, nausea, along with seasoning the bland food from the middle ages.
Today Ginger is loved the world over, yet is still prominent in holiday baking thanks to historical traditions. Give this gingerbread a try, it brings a special spirit to Christmas baking.
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Mary Ball Washington’s Gingerbread Cake
Description
Adding a splash or two of brandy (or coffee or cream sherry dessert wine) is what made this gingerbread recipe served to George Washington himself a timeless classic. Don’t let another Christmas go by without trying this historic recipe flavored with not just ginger and spice, but molasses, brown sugar, and raisins as well.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground mace
- 1 large orange
- 1/4 cup brandy, coffee, or cream sherry
- 1 cup raisins, chopped
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 large eggs
- optional: whip cream for topping
Instructions
- Move an oven rack to the center and set the oven to heat to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 9X13-inch baking dish and set it aside. In a bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace.
- Remove the zest of the orange peel using a zesting tool. Juice the orange, then combine the juice with the orange zest (should be about 4-5 tablespoons) and the brandy. Stir in chopped raisins to soak while moving on to step 3.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, cream the butter with a mixer until lightened and soft. Beat in the brown sugar and molasses until smooth, then beat in the eggs, and milk. Add in the orange-raisin mixture along with the flour mixture and fold until no white streaks remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool for at least 20 minutes, then slice and serve with optional whipped cream.
Notes
If you’d like to substitute the brandy/coffee/cream sherry, I recommend two options: simply omit it and add an additional two tablespoons more of orange juice and two tablespoons milk, *or* add a tablespoon or two of brandy extract, which can be found online (along with two additional tablespoons of OJ).
