Sponge Gingerbread ( eggless. ) ✠
5 cups flour.
1 heaping tablespoonful butter.
1 cup molasses.
1 cup sugar.
1 cup milk (sour is best).
2 teaspoonfuls saleratus, not soda, dissolved in hot water.
2 teaspoonfuls ginger.
1 teaspoonful cinnamon.
Mix the molasses, sugar, butter, and spice together; warm them slightly, and beat until they are lighter in color by many degrees than when you began. Add the milk, then the saleratus, and having mixed all well, put in the flour. Beat very hard five minutes, and bake in a broad, shallow pan, or in pâté-tins. Half a pound of seeded raisins cut in pieces will be a pleasant addition.
Try this gingerbread warm for tea or luncheon, with a cup of hot chocolate to accompany it, and you will soon repeat the experiment.