Old Fashioned Gingerbread

I haven't made gingerbread for years, but had some whipping cream to use in my fridge and for some reason I thought of gingerbread..it was cold and snowy so maybe that was what did it..anyway, I mixed some up tonight for an after dinner treat.  It is fast to make, although takes an hour to bake, but the house smells so good when it's baking it's worth the wait to eat it.  One nice thing about gingerbread, I think it tastes better warm..it brings out the spices so nicely.  Then add a big blob of sweetened, vanilla laced whipped cream and it's perfect around Christmas.  Here's the recipe:

OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a 9 x 9 cake pan.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg and mix in the molasses.
2.  add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  Blend into the creamed mixture and stir the hot water, stirring until it's a smooth creamy batter.  Pour into the prepared pan. 
3.  Bake 1 hour in preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool until slightly warm and serve with whipped cream.