The following post was written by my mom, WWW. Thanks, Mom!
The other day I came across a lost recipe for
gingerbread—the soft cake gingerbread—that had somehow found itself amongst
important LLC papers in my business file folder. (This is not surprising, really. Filing is NOT my strength!) I have been
looking for this recipe for ages and was so excited when I found it because I
wanted to bake something nurturing and homey, warm and comforting, to bring to
a friend.
“Hmmm,” thought I. “Is it weird to make gingerbread in
April?” And then I decided that this recipe is so delicious that it is kind of
a shame to only make it one time a year. Why not make it year round?
Gingerbread has a long history in Europe, starting in
Medieval England and spreading to the rest of Eastern Europe. The flat, cookie-type gingerbread is
traditional in Germany and Scandinavia, but the cake-type has an English origin
and later became popular in the US, made with molasses. (Even George
Washington’s mother developed a recipe for gingerbread cake.)
Years ago, a friend of a friend gave me the basic recipe I
am sharing here, but I have added some extra spice to make it even more tasty
(the original recipe only called for the allspice and ginger). This cake is
heaven. I made it with gluten-free flour
and you would never know it. (Interesting
note…my 1970’s The Joy of Cooking has a “wheat-less” gingerbread cake that they
say is even better than their recipe made with regular flour, so maybe there is
something inherent in traditional gingerbread that makes it conducive to
alternative flours.) What makes this recipe so delicious is the minced fresh
ginger. Your whole house will smell like a hug when you make it. This is the ultimate comfort food! NOTE: make
sure you use fresh spices, as they loose their strength after about 6
months. I wrote about this here and here.
Gingerbread
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (or gluten-free flour blend such
as Pamela’s Artisan Flour)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon Penzey’s apple pie spice, or ½ teaspoon cinnamon
and ¼ teaspoon cloves, and ½ teaspoon
nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup unsulphered molasses
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup peeled fresh ginger, minced
Preheat oven to 350. Sift together first 5 ingredients and set aside. Mix sugar, molasses, eggs, and oil. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Add baking soda to boiling water, then add to
gingerbread mixture, blending well. Add fresh ginger
and pour into a buttered and floured 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes
out clean. Serve plain or with whipped cream on top!
Enjoy!
Love,
WWW
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