Step 1

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease (with butter) and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Tap out excess flour.

Step 2

In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and salt. Stir well and set bowl aside. In a separate small bowl, stir together buttermilk and vanilla and set aside.

Step 3

Combine butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and light in color, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in molasses and ginger until combined and then one at a time, add in the eggs, beating in until well incorporated. Once everything is mixed in, scrape down bowl and paddle. add one third of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. add half of the buttermilk mixture and beat until the batter looks smooth, add in another third of the flour mixture. add remaining buttermilk and then the remaining flour mixture. the batter should be nice and smooth.

Step 4

Pour batter into prepared pan and place on the center rack of your oven. bake for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before removing.

Step 5

While the gingerbread is cooling, prepare your icing. Make the icing by stirring the vanilla and the powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Stir the milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until you get a pourable consistency. We used about 4 1/2 Tbsp of milk for this.

Step 6

When the gingerbread is cooled and removed from the pan, evenly pour on the icing. You may not need all of it. Let the icing set before slicing and serving.