I've been craving for gingerbread for a while now and after reading Mary's post, I immediately went to the kitchen to measure out the ingredients. I used Dorie's recipe from TWD, but omitted the chocolate and baked in a muffin tin. I can't remember how the chocolate version tasted exactly, since we made it 6 months ago (in January..where has time gone?!), but I think I like it better without the chocolate. Next time I'm adding freshly grated ginger for extra heat. Unfortunately, this wasn't a family favourite except for me. I had a hard time getting them to try this and told them it was chocolate cake. Too bad the smell of ginger, molasses and cinnamon gave it all away. Oh well, this is usually what happens when I bake with spices. I used to be like that too, but thanks to TWD, I started to love cinnamon in desserts other than apple pie. It shouldn't be too difficult to eat 12 cakes though, I only had 3 the first day!
Recipe here at Sherry Trifle
I've never had gingerbread before other than gingerbread cookies and by those I mean the ones you use to build the houses so they're not the greatest. To keep the portions small, I quartered the recipe and used my mini loaf pans. As for the egg, I just looked for the smallest large one in the carton instead of trying to divide out an egg into something I don't want to even calculate. I wasn't expecting to like this recipe, but it was delicious (I loved how gingery it was) and the texture was amazing! Moist and soft, dense, but not overly so and best of all, it wasn't like the types of cakes that dried out a few hours later. My cake stayed moist for 3 days.. I couldn't believe it! I'm still curious about why sometimes cakes made with all purpose flour are softer and better textured than those made with cake flour. Could it be the melted chocolate? Almost every chocolate cake I've made has a softer crumb. Or is it the extra liquid? Compared to most recipes, there is more milk (1 cup of milk to 2 cups of flour). Then there's also molasses, which contributes to the liquid and possibily to the soft texture? Since this is the first cake I've made with molasses, I have no idea if molasses has an effect on texture. Maybe it's none of the above and I've finally mastered how not to undermix. Or, am I overanalyzing.. again!..haha. I'm sure the icing was yummy, but I decided to save the calories and dust with some icing sugar (something I've never done before, suprisingly).
Thanks to Heather of Sherry Trifle for choosing this recipe, which can be found on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!
