In this world of increasingly available and isolated sensations, old school sweets and candies are often over looked. As sockhops and town dances have become obsolete, and internet porn stunts the social skills we were once forced to develop in order to convince others to show us their private parts, so too has the molasses and horehound candy of yore earned the reputation of being plain and even puritanical.
The spices in this cake and the lovely texture created by the molasses solicits several aspects of the sensory faculties Besides, molasses is very good for you: iron, calcium, copper, maganese, potassium, and magnesium.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE GINGERBREAD:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup molasses (I prefer dark)
1/2 cup boiling water
**If you think you want to experiment, you can add extra spices: 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, cocoa, black pepper, nutmeg etc.
Preheat your oven to 350, and grease and flour a 9 inch pan or line the bottom with wax or parchment paper. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and spices together into a small bowl, as you will be adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add eggs and sugar and beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, about 2-3 minutes.
Gradually beat in the molasses. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined, and then stir in the boiling water until the batter is smooth and glorious. scrape the batter into the pan. bake until a toothpick (or as i often use, a sharp steak knife. so much more environmentally friendly/i'm too lazy to own toothpicks) inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Let it cool for a bit and then flip onto a plate. Meanwhile get cracking on:
THE WHISKEY-SOUR SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
I cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice mixed with whiskey, 2 parts whiskey with 1 part lemon juice, as in a Whiskey-Sour. (The definition of whiskey is not strict here. I used Rittenhouse Rye as it's what I happened to have on hand.)
Pinch of salt
Whisk the sugar and corn starch together in a heavy bottomed pan until thoroughly blended, eliminating all lumps in the starch. Add the liquids and the salt. Stirring constantly with a heat proof rubber spatula so that you can scrape the bottom of a pan, bring to a boil and cook the sauce until it thickens. You can stir in a tablespoon of butter or two to add richness.
Drizzle the whiskey sour sauce over the cake. I used 1/2-3/4 of the of the recipe on one cake, letting it soak into the cake and cool into a sticky coating. You may refrigerate the remaining sauce--it will thicken into an addictive accompaniment to scones, ice cream, yogurt, etc., and I dare say, is almost better cold. I was very pleased with the excellence of the whiskey's flavor in the sauce. All of the alcohol fumes should be gone from sufficient heating leaving the taste alone behind.
As you can see from the picture, I like to imagine I am an old russian peasant and decorate the top in a folky almond pattern that seems like it might have some sort of ancient significance. nope--except deliciousness. Also, the almonds prevent the saran wrap from sticking to the top of the cake when transporting it to the super cool holiday loft party I'm about to go on metropolitan avenue. It helps to spray the saran wrap with cooking spray (make sure it's not garlic flavored or something-use original flavored). It doesn't hurt the cake and it keeps you from making a big sticky mess.
Oh, and I basically took the cake recipe from Irma Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, the All New, All Purpose Edition. That book rules. The whiskey sour sauce is sort of my variation on the Reduced Fat Clear Lemon Sauce from that book.I just thought up the whiskey sour sauce thing because i only had one third of the amount of lemon juice needed, and I love whiskey sours, so I thought "Why not try to make a sauce of it?". I think, in life, we need to be asking that question a lot more often.
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| Old School Gingerbread Cake with Whiskey-Sour Sauce |
