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I know that this year everyone is trying to economize with gifts. Many people do appreciate home baked goods. If you are going to make something homemade ideally you want something that is easy to make, has cheap ingredients and won’t spoil quickly.
I heard about this recipe for gingerbread several years ago when I was reading Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. She was talking about Laurie Colwin’s book “Home Cooking – A Writer In The Kitchen” and saying how great her recipe for Gingerbread was. Laurie Colwin died in 1992 and her book went out of print. But I recently found a copy thanks to the amazing powers of the internet and made the gingerbread recipe. It was as good as Sarah said it was and stayed fresh for over a week. I am going to make this for all my friends this holiday season – so here is the recipe if you would like to try it. It is easy to make, the ingredients are cheap and it stays fresh.
Gingerbread (the cakey kind)
According to Laurie the recipe makes one nine inch cake. I made mine in an 8 x 8 pyrex square shaped pan.
1. Butter an 8×8 square of 9 inch round cake pan.
2. Cream one stick of sweet butter (unsalted) with 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar. Beat until fluffy and add a 1/2 cup of molasses.
3. Beat in two eggs.
4. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and one very generous tablespoon of ground ginger (this can be adjusted to taste, but I like it very gingery [says Laurie]). Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice.
5. Add 2 teaspoons lemon brandy. (I never even heard of lemon brandy but don’t worry she has a solution) If you don’t have any, use plain vanilla extract. Lemon extract will not do. Then add 1/2 cup of buttermilk (or milk with a little yogurt beaten into it) and turn batter into a buttered tin. Again I used an 8×8 square Pyrex baking pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for between 20 and 30 minutes (check after 20 minutes have passed). Test with a broom straw – I used a knife, and cool on a rack.
Laurie also provides two recipes for icing – one chocolate and one lemon. I have not tried these but for those of you who want to continue the adventure – here they are:
Chocolate Icing
1. Cream 1/2 stick sweet butter. When fluffy add four tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa.
2. If you have some, add one teaspoon of vanilla brandy (easily made by steeping a couple of cut-up vanilla beans in brandy) or plain vanilla or plain brandy. Then add about a cup of powdered sugar, a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.
Lemon Icing
Substitute for the cocoa the zest (just yellow part of lemon skin) of one big lemon, one teaspoon of lemon brandy or lemon extract and one tablespoon of lemon juice, and proceed as in chocolate icing.
Lemon icing needs time to mellow. At first taste it is very sweet but after an hour or so according to Laurie “it mellows into something suave and buttery.”
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