Old Fashioned Gingerbread

I love trying new recipes and baking up delicious treats to try for the first time but sometimes I crave traditional, old fashioned desserts like I imagine my grandmother used to make. I made this gingerbread on a particularly blustery Fall day a few weeks ago and it was an extremely comforting treat to eat while the weather outside was frigid, windy, and rainy.

Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch square pan or an 9 inch spring foam pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in egg and mix in the molasses. 3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. 4. Stir in hot water. Pour into prepared pan. 5. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from the spring foam pan or allow to cool in the square pan before serving. 7. I also made a quick caramel sauce for the cake by boiling 1/2 cup butter, with 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water for 1 minute.