281571 Thu Dec 08 11:12:50 -0800 2005 8 31 Home Cooking 0 1498501 Wow Linda, the recipe you shared was perfection. I have tried countless recipes for Gingerbread over the years. Not wanting to have more than one version in my repetoire, I would find myself replacing previous versions with the latest incarnations that have been pleasing. All I can say is that I will not be trying any new recipes for Gingerbread, because your descriptions of the Karen Barker treat were right on the money. Our preferred method of enjoying Gingerbread is for breakfast, served with mugs of Cafe Mocha. Nothing like a sugar rush combined with caffeine to start the day! Thanks again for your post. To follow is your exact posting which included the recipe---for those who might want to give it a go! Best wishes, Jeff P.S. Hopefully for Hannukah or Christmas someone in my sphere of friends/family might gift me with "Sweet Stuff" by Barker. If the other recipes are as good as her Gingerbread, there might be a great year of cooking ahead. Following on the discussion of Carb Lover's intriguing Ginger Molasses cake, and from there the use of fresh ginger in baking, here is a paraphrase of an excellent gingerbread recipe. Looking at the list of ingredients you will think it's a dog's breakfast but the depth of flavor is far beyond that in any other gingerbread I've made (and I love to make gingerbread). It is based on one in Sweet Stuff, by Karen Barker of The Magnolia Grill in Durham NC. The book is wonderful and the recipes (check out the goat cheese cheesecake) live up the the restaurant's motto, which is "Not Afraid of Flavor." Spicy Gingerbread 2 1/2 c flour 1/2 t cinnamon 1/2 t ground cloves 1/2 t freshly-ground black pepper 1/2 t ground ginger 1/4 t dry mustard 1/2 t kosher salt 1 stick (4 oz) butter 1 c sugar 2 T peeled, grated or very finely chopped fresh ginger 2 T very finely chopped crystallized ginger 2 eggs 1/2 c vegetable oil 1 c molasses (not blackstrap) 1/2 c brewed coffee 2 t baking soda 1/2 c orange juice Liberally butter a 9x9x2" square, or 10x2" round, cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment and butter it too. Sift together the flour and spices, then stir or whisk in the salt. In the bowl of your mixer, using the whisk attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and fresh and crystallized gingers. Add the eggs and mix. Add the oil and molasses and mix. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to blend, scraping the bowl as necessary. Heat coffee in a small saucepan until almost but not quite boiling. Add baking soda and stir to dissolve. It will fizz. Gradually add this to batter in the bowl. Add the OJ. Mix to combine. The batter will be very loose. I have found it useful to stir from the bottom just a bit with a rubber spatula as sometimes you get some molasses settling on the bottom of the bowl. Pour into the buttered pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for an hour or a little bit more. When it is done, a tester will come out clean, but look for it to look set in the center and to start pulling away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely before serving. This is delicious with stewed or poached fruit on the side and a blob of whipped cream. Thu Dec 08 11:12:50 -0800 2005 0 JeffW 1 1498507 JeffW- thanks for posting the recipe again. With bad weather forecasted for my area tomorrow, this may be just the thing to bake if the kids are home. Have taken out the Christmas decorations, and am getting the tree this weekend, so the smell of gingerbread would pretty much put all of us in the holiday spirit. Thanks again. Thu Dec 08 11:31:20 -0800 2005 1498501 0 macca 2 1498511 Hope you enjoy the Gingerbread. I'm a bad boy! Couldn't wait for someone to possibly gift me with the Sweet Stuff cookbook. I just did internet searching, and the book is on it's way! Thu Dec 08 11:53:04 -0800 2005 1498507 0 JeffW 1 1498671 That sounds awesome! I'm always on a lookout for new gingerbread recipes, and Barker's recipe sounds a lot like the one John Thorne describes as "Moosehead Lake Maine Camp Gingerbread." Based on a hunting-camp recipe, it too calls for black coffee, dry mustard, and black pepper--with the secret ingredient, bacon drippings, to balance out the spice, since out there in the woods, you probably wouldn't have butter but you'd definitely have bacon. Moosehead Lake Main Camp Gingerbread 1 cup flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cloves 1/4 tsp. dry mustard 1/4 tsp. black pepper 4 tb. butter or bacon grease 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup Barbados molasses 1 egg 1/2 cup hot coffee, very strong Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a loaf pan. Cream butter or bacon grease and sugar. Beat in molasses and egg. Add sifted dry ingredients and stir. Pour in the hot coffee, stir. Pour into loaf pan. Bake 35 min. Thu Dec 08 20:15:43 -0800 2005 1498501 0 dixieday 1 1498799 Jeff, I am so glad you are enjoying this recipe as much as I do! I too had searched in vain for the definitive gingerbread, and now my search is over. I like the idea of having it for breakfast--the more opportunities to eat gingerbread, the better. You will LOVE the cookbook--really interesting desserts and treats. I bought it during a flying visit to NC during which I ate at the Magnolia Grill (thanks to the Chowhound "South" board, of course!). The goat cheese cheesecake was so good I had to buy the cookbook to get the recipe, and everything I've made from it has been superb. It also has useful notes on technique etc. Happy holidays! Fri Dec 09 14:44:26 -0800 2005 1498501 0 LindaMc 2 1498836 Dear Linda, Glad we got to connect regarding the Gingerbread recipe you've shared. I decided to get the cookbook before the holidays, and I ended up with a "sweet" deal at some division within E-bay for the book. Indeed it was your mentioning of Goats cheese cheesecake that sealed the deal. Some years ago there was a woman in California who used to bake for various restaurants. I tried the most ummmazing goats cheese cheesecake at a restaurant, and it was made by this woman, Amy Pressman. Her rendition had a thin layer of caramel, either underneath the filling or on top---I forget which. I ended up meeting this gal when she opened a shop in Pasadena, and she promised me the recipe. It has become a longstanding joke between us, as I've run into her over the years, and she always has the same answer of being very busy, but that she would send it within a week. When "Sweet Stuff" arrives, you can guess which will be the first recipe that I try. Happy holidays to you, and thanks again for your post. Jeff Fri Dec 09 17:22:38 -0800 2005 1498799 0 JeffW 1 1498850 Thanks for your post and reminding me about this great recipe from LindaMc!! I just got some wonderful spices from Penzeys, including crystallized ginger, and I'm going to bake this over the weekend. Can't wait! Fri Dec 09 19:11:13 -0800 2005 1498501 0 Carb Lover 2 1498886 Speaking of this great recipe, our friends DebbieW and Michael were here for din-din tonight. A splurge type of din-din, because I shaved a fresh white truffle over my risotto. But back to the Gingerbread. I'd brought them some of the Gingerbread, as we were also with them a couple of nights ago. Tonight when Debbie and Michael arrived, they RAVED about the Gingerbread. That made me feel SO good, as Debbie and I have an honest relationship regarding food. Neither of us has any food "ego" when it comes to being scrutinized from something we've made. If we don't dig something that either of us had made, we are not afraid to be honest. It just so happens that this particualar Gingerbread is indeed as wonderfully moist and flavorful (without being bitingly strong), as Linda had posted. I hope you enjoy this treat when you make it. I also look forward to your honest opinion after having made it. Off to bed, as I'm zonked from our 3 hour eating bachanal with Deb and Michael---did I also tell you that I made Pumpkin Pecan Cannoli? YUMMMM. Sat Dec 10 02:07:11 -0800 2005 1498850 0 JeffW 2 1498920 Do post back on how you like the gingergbread--I am betting you won't be disappointed! Sat Dec 10 13:07:15 -0800 2005 1498850 0 LindaMc