Gingerbread Spice Cake

This recipe is an adaptation of several gingerbread and spice cakes.  My goal was to incorporate leftover sweet potato or canned pumpkin, two ingredients I often have in the refrigerator.  I also like that this recipe also uses kefir, an ingredient I always have a lot of.  The cake comes out of the oven making you wonder if you actually baked a chocolate cake.




what you need:
1 cup whole-wheat flour (I have used spelt instead)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed (I use Wholesome Sweeteners)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg or EnerG egg replacer (what would happen with applesauce instead?)
1 1/2 cup sweet potato mash or puree (I am sure applesauce could be mixed in here)
1/2 cup yogurt or kefir
1/4 cup organic unsulfured molasses (I use Wholesome Sweeteners)
2 teaspoons alcohol-free vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest


what to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  butter or oil loaf pan


In one bowl, mix in flours, baking soda, spices and salt


In another large bowl, and using an electric mixture, beat the sugar, oil and egg/egg replacer until smooth.  Incorporate the sweet potato puree, yogurt, molasses, vanilla and zest.  Slowly add the flour to the wet mixture.


Pour the batter into the pan.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about one hour.
Incorporate