Gingerbread Cake

This delicious, spiced cake is great for dessert and with coffee. It's alot like gingerbread, but not quite as heavy.

You will need: 2 cups of flour 1.5 cups of sugar 2/3 cup powdered milk 1.5 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1.5 tsp. powdered ginger 1 tsp cinnamon .25 tsp. ground cloves 4 eggs 2/3 cup of oil 1/4 cup black molasses around 1 cup of water 1 tsp vanilla extract or the scrapings from inside 1 cm of a vanilla bean

Preheat your oven to 145 Celsius, and grease and flour a fluted cake pan or two smaller round cake pans, or a rectangular cake pan.

1. Put all of the dry ingredients together, and whisk or mix them with the mixer until they are nicely aerated.

2. Put all of the wet ingredients except the vanilla and water in a separate bowl, and mix them well.

3. Gradually mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until the wet ingredients have taken up at least some of the dry ingredients, and then start adding water.

4. When it reaches the thickness of a good ketchup, stop adding water, and continue to mix for another 3 minutes.

5. Add the vanilla and continue to mix until it is well distributed.

6. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 45 minutes before checking to see if it's done. If it's not done by then, give it another 10 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven, and let it cool in the pan until it is safe to touch. Then try to turn it out of the pan. It may take a shake or two. If it takes too much shaking, let it cool completely before attempting to remove it again.

Optional: Dust it with powdered sugar for a holiday look.