Deep Dark Gingerbread

(Faithfully re-posted from the other blog project. Expect more original postings on here very soon - I've pretty much learned what I needed to know about Wordpress. Viva la Blogger!)

I know I'm out of season on this one,  but this past week I had the most insatiable craving for gingerbread.  Maybe its because the weather is indistinguishable from mid winter in downtown San Francisco right now.
Sadly its apparently summer everywhere else, which means it's damn near impossible to find this thing that I'm craving.
What does one do in this situation, other than sit around and cry hungrily and probably eat a lot of other baked goods to try and fill the void?
Sometimes, you just have to take matters into your own hands.
I am not great at baking. I recently made a batch of chocolate chip cookies so bad that my husband recommended we just toss them rather than subject ourselves to the horror of eating them. (Thx ego boost,  honey!)
Like always I try to attempt recipes using stuff I randomly have in my house - in this case, blackstrap molasses, avocado honey, and leftover ginger syrup from an attempt to make ginger beer not too long ago. And tea masala, because it goes well in everything.
But I have to say that this attempt at gingerbread turned out well. Its not as sweet as what you'd find at a cafe. Its dark,  and sticky, and spicy, and almost bitter in the same way that good chocolate is. It would be heavenly with vanilla ice cream (or the tail end of a carton of heavy cream that I whipped up).
This would be even better if you have crystalized ginger on hand (like 1/4 of a cup, roughly chopped.)
Deep Dark Gingerbread
adapted from the gingerbread recipe in "Canning for a New Generation" by Liana Krissoff

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons english mustard powder (the kind that comes in a yellow box)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon tea masala (sorry, I put it in everything!)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temp
• 3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 cup good dark honey
• 1/4 cup ginger beer, or ginger syrup if you have any, or preserved ginger in its syrup, or crystallized ginger chopped.
• 3/4 cup hot water

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. line a square baking pan with tinfoil, or generously butter a loaf pan.
3. sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, spices) into a medium bowl.
4. with an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. add the egg and molasses and honey, and beat for 5 to 8 minutes until the color lightens.
6. beat in the ginger stuff, whatever you're using.
7. Add the flour mixture a third at a time, beating in throughly, and alternate with a third of the hot water.
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Let it cool for 15 minutes or so..

- this is a good time to whip up some cream, or pick up ice cream at the store.
(AKA something where you aren't so distracted by the smell that you can't wait until it's cooled. This is a lot better when it's totally cooled or just barely warm - I think it's even better the next day.)
Other stuff that goes amazingly with gingerbread:
- pears or quinces poached in spice and vanilla syrup
- plums in caramel sauce
- anything creamy - ginger ice cream, a bourbon-spiked creme anglais, a ginger or cinnamon flavored whipped cream.
- lemon or grapefruit curd
What? Just because I'm not the worlds best baker, doesn't mean I don't have the palate. Oh for a pastry chef at my command.
(maybe I can press my husband into service)

Baking Day: Cranberry Gingerbread Gems

Tis the Season to eat cookies!

On my Mothers side of the family, there is a tradition of the Holiday Baking day (also, the famous holiday turkey cook-off, but, that's another post). My Grandma-Great, Wylie, had a Baking Day as part of her regular week like many women of her generation, and although she passed on when I was small, every now and again my mother or grand-mother will wax eloquent about her famous cherry pies.

As time went on (as it does), Baking Day went from being a weekly to an annual event.

I remember as a kid, all of us gathering together in our kitchen- grandma, aunts, all the cousins, my sister and brother and friends, to bake pies and make toffee and craft cookies. My mother had a huge stack of favorite recipes and baking pamphlets gathered over the years which she would xerox and hand to everyone to figure out what we wanted to make. Gingerbread figures to be decorated and used as edible ornaments were a standby, along with many batches of English Toffee to send as Christmas presents for relatives abroad. (Sorry guys, that recipe is secret.)

Over the years, the divorces, the jobs and the process of generally growing up, all of those aunts, cousins, siblings and friends have grown apart in distance, although not in spirit. The house I grew up in belongs to my dad now, and the only cook in it is my sister who still lives at home. We live streets, cities, states away from one another. As the years go on it grows harder and harder to get everyone together for the various holidays.

Baking Day does happen though, every year, through thick and thin.

These Cranberry Gingerbread Gems are a Baking Day favorite of mine, and one which I always associate with this time of year. In the past few years I've adapted the cookie to be smaller, crisp, and even more addictive - I usually put ten or so in a small cellophane bag with a ribbon to give to co-workers.
These cookies have a grown-up twist, maximizing spice and using blackstrap molasses, which comes from the third boiling of cane sugar and is a darker, bitter cousin to the usual. I roll my Gems in Ludy's Ginger Brew Salabrat , which can be found in asian markets in the tea section - which, by the by, on its own is lovely mixed with hot water as a digestive. Cut it with sugar if you can't stand the heat.
If you can't find Ginger Brew, white sugar mixed with a bit of ground ginger will approximate.

Cranberry Ginger Gems

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses (regular works fine too, but the bitterness helps balance the sweet)
1 egg
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/3 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped crystallized ginger
Ginger brew mixed with sugar (or white sugar mixed with 1/4tsp ground ginger)

Directions:
FYI, I use a stand mixer for this, and if you have one I recommend it.

Cream together butter and sugar. (Basically blend them together until the mixture is light in color and fluffy.) Add the molasses and egg; blend well.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl - flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. I use a fork to fluff up the flour but using a sifter works too. Add dry ingredients to the wet - I recommend doing this a bit at a time, and if you are using a stand mixer, pause between additions. The dough will get very stiff.

Fold in cranberries and crystallized ginger bits.
Cover, and refrigerate until very firm - I didn't use the dough until the next day, but a few hours at least should do it.

Heat the oven to 350 F, and prep a shallow dish with ginger-sugar mixture.

Now, you can shape these a few ways. If you want normal size cookies, simply shape into 1-inch balls and roll in the sugar. However, part of the charm of these cookies is how small, crispy and utterly addictive they are - and I would sure feel a lot more guilty eating regular size cookies.

To make small cookies, take a scoop of dough and roll it in your hands into a snake.
(Yes, it's going to look like a winner of the dog-turd lookalike contest. Get over it.)

Roll the snake in sugar, then take a sharp knife and cut into pieces about a half inch thick. Press slightly to reshape into a circle if nessesary.

I use a sil-pat on a baking sheet when I make these because it pretty much negates any pan cleanup, but parchment or a greased cookie sheet works well too. Place the mini-cookies about an inch apart.
Bake for no more than 10 minutes at 350 degrees - I like to check around 6 minutes in. A cookie should feel set but not stiff - if it feels sturdy in the oven, they are probably overdone.
Cool on a rack for a few minutes (if they last that long!)