Thursday, January 29, 2009

Gingerbread


I took this gingerbread in to the office just before Christmas and it was such a hit that I made it for the hosts of the two Christmas parties we went to. Its more like a cake than it is the usual cookies you find everywhere in the holiday season. The original recipe called for 2 eggs but I was running short so substituted it with 1/2 a ripe banana and it really didnt make much of a difference. Its taken me a while to put it up here but the recipe is delicious!


Cake

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/6 cup dark molasses

1/6 cup muscovado sugar

1 large egg, 1/2 very ripe banana mashed

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1/3 cup canola oil
Glaze

1/2 cup whipping cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate,

chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch square metal baking pan. I poured mine into a rectangular cake tin and baked a couple of cupcakes with the remaining batter. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter parchment. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.
Mix warm water and baking soda in small bowl until baking soda dissolves. Using electric mixer, beat sugars, butter, molasses, egg and banana, and fresh ginger in large bowl until well blended. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with water mixture in 2 additions, beating until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool on rack 20 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake to loosen. Invert cake onto rack; cool. Peel off parchment.
For glaze:

Heat cream till small bubbles form on the side. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and vanilla; stir until smooth. Let stand until cool but still pourable, about 20 minutes.


Place cake on rack set atop baking sheet. Drizzle glaze over cake.

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