Chocolate gingerbread bites

The Internet can be a great source of inspiration, I am sure you all agree with me – not only for food, obviously, but let’s focus on that now: there are so many great recipes out there it is hard to choose which one to make, but depending on what we see it gets easier to take our pick.

I saw these bars on Rebecca’s blog and immediately felt like baking them: chocolate, spices, and molasses beautifully combined. Very Christmassy, exactly what I wanted at the moment. When I wrote to her about it, she told me she’d gotten the recipe on another blog, and that person had gotten the recipe from Martha. I then remembered I’d seen the recipe on Martha’s website more than once and thought “well, Martha did not inspire me to make these, Rebecca did”. So these delicious bars, a sort of cake perfumed with spices and moist with the addition of sour cream, have become part of my repertoire of great recipes thanks to a search online – a beautiful blog inspired me to make them, and I hope my blog can inspire some of you to make them, too.

Chocolate gingerbread bites
from Rebecca's blog

¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup (22g) unsweetened cocoa powder + about ½ tablespoon for dusting the pan
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup (60ml) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
¼ cup (60ml) sour cream*
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (85g) dark chocolate chips
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil and butter it as well. Dust it all with cocoa and tap out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, spices, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, egg, molasses, sour cream and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 16

Chocolate gingerbread cakes, pixie and bob

Besides TV shows and Christmas baking, this month has also been about my decision to grow out my pixie: I’d decided that a month or so ago, then dropped the idea and thought of keeping the pixie, but then I fell in love with Emma Stone’s beautiful bob and now I cannot wait to have that haircut (and I’ve thought of stealing her color, too, since I’ll inevitably have to start dying my hair soon to cover the grey strands).

Food, movies and hair styles – one can definitely find all sorts of things on this blog. ;)

I’ll have to patient for it will take months for my hair to grow that long, and it will certainly be an interesting exercise for me; luckily in the kitchen I don’t have to wait too long to eat something delicious (which is one of the reasons why learning how to cook can be so empowering) and these cakes are proof of that: small as they are, they bake and cool quickly and in no time at all mine were looking beautiful on the wire rack, just waiting for the ganache to set – if you’re impatient like me you can go ahead and eat the cakes as soon as you finish spreading the ganache on top of them: I promise I won’t tell a soul. ;)

Chocolate gingerbread cakes
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious Australia

Cakes:
¼ cup honey
¼ cup molasses
125g brown sugar
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon freshly ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
65g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
crystallized ginger, to garnish

Ganache:
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 12-hole muffin pan and line the bottoms with a circle of baking paper (I cut the bottoms of cupcake liners and used them to line the pan). In a small saucepan, place honey, molasses, sugar and milk and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Place flour, cocoa, baking powder, spices, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add egg, the cooled mixture and vanilla and process until a smooth batter forms. Divide among muffin holes and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache: heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble around the sides. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and butter and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. cool to room temperature, then spread over the cooled cakes and garnish with the crystallized ginger – I had some ganache left, so I refrigerated it and rolled into truffles and dusted them with cocoa powder.

Makes 12

Choc chip gingerbread cookies to kick off the holiday season

My favorite time of the year is here already – time does fly, as I wrote a year ago. And, same as last December, this year’s Christmas series start with cookies: they are delicious, easy to make, everyone I know loves them and they’re the perfect homemade gift, that is why I chose this recipe to kick off the holiday celebrations around here.

The recipe comes from Donna Hay, who never disappoints, and chocolate chip cookies are another thing I am grateful to this blog for, learning how to make them myself after watching the cookies being devoured in cartoons and movies for years – a touch of molasses and spices and they’re turned into Christmas cookies in no time.

When I opened the tin a day after baking the cookies to take the photos for this post the smell was to wonderful I had to eat a couple of them before grabbing the camera. ;)

For more holiday posts, click here.

Choc chip gingerbread cookies
slightly adapted from the gorgeous Donna Hay mag

2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup molasses
100g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 70% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy and light. Add the molasses and dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the mixture comes together. Stir in the chocolate.

Using 2 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie, roll mixture into balls and place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 25

Rye and stout bread and food waste

I was watching Save with Jamie the other day and besides the delicious recipes (I drooled over his beautiful panzanella and have been dreaming about the beef rendang with homemade chapatis, yum! ) I find it really great that he shows (with numbers) the insane amount of food that goes to waste for absolutely no reason – the show takes place in England, but I know that here in Brazil things are not any different.

I had to take responsibility for my home at a very early age and since I did all the shopping and cooking I had to be smart: there were four of us and nothing could go to waste. Luckily for me my brother was the only picky eater among us: my father and sister ate pretty much anything I cooked, and because they were fearless eaters I could experiment and try new things whenever I wanted to.

Leftover rice and pasta were quickly transformed into fritters, leftover tomato salad was placed in the fridge to be added to tomato sauce some other time, leftover greens were folded into beaten eggs for a delicious omelet – that’s how I managed the kitchen back then, and that made me learn a lot about food, long before blogs, cookbooks and TV shows. That is why I love how Jamie shows people how to transform ingredients into something else entirely – his tips are great.

When I made Nigella’s stout cake a while ago there was some leftover beer and since I wasn’t going to drink it I had to do something useful with it, and this bread was the result: I avoided wasting expensive beer and we had delicious open sandwiches for lunch, made with freshly baked bread – if that’s not a wonderful thing I don’t know what is. :)

Rye and stout bread
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Gourmet Traveller

150g rye flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast
100ml stout beer
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon table salt, divided use
1 cup (240ml) lukewarm water
350g all purpose flour

Combine rye flour, yeast, beer, molasses, ½ teaspoon of the salt and water in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Set aside in a warm place until foaming (5-8 minutes), add all purpose flour and remaining salt and knead until smooth (5 minutes). Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size (1 ½ - 2 hours).

Line a large baking sheet with foil. Knock back dough and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, dusting with flour if necessary. Divide in half, then roll each half into a smooth ball. Dust top with a bit of flour, transfer to the prepared sheet, cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size (1 hour).
In the meantime, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake until loaves are deep golden and sound hollow when tapped (30-40 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack, cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 2 small loaves

White chocolate ginger buttons + the best horror film of all time

Much like my “to make” recipe list, the list of movies I want to watch grows longer every day – there is always something interesting I haven’t seen yet, new releases every week... I don’t think I’ll be ever done with either list. :D

To make things harder, now and then I feel like watching my favorite movies again, especially the ones I saw in my teenage years – it seems that now that I’m older I can savor them a lot more. Last week I watched Angel Heart again (for the third time, to be more precise) and I found it to be even more fantastic than the last time, years and years ago. I found the acting even better – how great is Mickey Rourke in this movie? – the writing even more genius, and the way Alan Parker develops all that is sublime. I consider The Exorcist the scariest horror movie ever made, but the best, to me, is Angel Heart.

I thought I was done with ginger cookies this Christmas but when I saw these pretty buttons I could not resist – if I can’t help watching certain movies over and over again, how could resist spiced cookies filled with white chocolate (two things I love)? ;)

White chocolate ginger buttons
slightly adapted from here

Cookies:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup (80ml) molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
140g (5oz) white chocolate, finely chopped
pinch of cinnamon

Cookies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the egg, molasses and vanilla. On low speed, add the reserved ingredients and beat just until combined.
Roll dough by 1 leveled tablespoon into balls; place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Press the center of each ball with your finger or a small measuring spoon. Bake just until edges are lightly golden, 10-12 minutes. (Wells will have mostly filled in.) Remove from oven; using the back of a round 1 teaspoon or the end of a wooden spoon gently re-press wells. Let cool on sheets over wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool completely.

Filling: in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water), melt white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Spoon about ½ teaspoon chocolate into each well. Sprinkle with the cinnamon. Let stand until chocolate is firm, about 1 hour.

Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 45 cookies

Pfeffernüsse

This year's Christmas series has come to an end and for that I chose a delicious and very easy recipe, that comes from a book I adore. These cookies are wonderful, super tasty and quick to prepare, and I think they would make a great last minute Christmas gift.

I hope you've enjoyed the holiday recipes I've posted and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Pfeffernüsse
from the amazing beyond words Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

2 ¼ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
scant ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (131g) brown sugar, packed
¼ cup mild flavored molasses
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140g) icing sugar, sifted, more if necessary

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, allspice, cloves and pepper.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar and molasses until creamy and lighter in color. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Using 1 tablespoon for each cookie, roll dough into balls and place them 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake until golden brown on the bottom and just fir to touch, about 14 minutes. Cool on the sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully coat warm cookies with the icing sugar. Transfer to the rack and cool completely.

Makes about 2 ½ dozen

Gingerbread marshmallows

I’ve been baking lots of cookies lately – these books have been at my kitchen counter all the time – but I wanted something else for the people at work, something that to them would sound unusual. Marshmallows were the perfect choice: upon delivering some of the small plastic bags filled with the candy some of my coworkers were really intrigued by the idea of homemade marshmallows, and “did you actually make these???” was the sentence I heard the most throughout that day. :)
Besides that, there were other reasons behind the choice: I hadn’t made marshmallows in a very long time, they have a Christmassy feel, the recipe yields a lot – that way many, many goodie bags would be made with it – and I also wanted to please my sister, who is absolutely crazy about them. I waited for her feedback, thinking that she might find them too spicy, or too gingery, but she said they were fantastic – she’s a grown up now and bold flavors don’t scare her anymore (but she still won’t eat bacon, which is something I’ll never understand). :D

Gingerbread marshmallows
adapted from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
3 ¼ cups (650g) granulated sugar
¾ cup corn syrup or golden syrup
½ cup + 1 tablespoon molasses
2/3 cup (160ml) water, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
vegetable oil and icing sugar, for the pan

For rolling the marshmallows:
1 ½ cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20x30cm (8x12in) cake pan and dust it generously with icing sugar*.
Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose, molasses and extra water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat without stirring. Bring to the boil and cook for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage: 115°C/240°F on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture – carefully because the mixture may splash. Add the vanilla and the spices and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan and leave at room temperature overnight.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle some of the mixture onto a surface and unmold the marshmallow onto it (loosen it from the sides of the pan with a sharp knife). Using a lightly oiled knife, cut into squares and roll into the icing sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

* the recipe yielded so much that I was able to fill two 20x30cm (8x12in) pans with it, and in the end I got 110 marshmallows

Makes about 50 marshmallows

Gingerbread linzer tartlets

So I decided to grab the hot weather by the horns and make Christmas tartlets anyway, but with my dried fruit stash reduced to a sad handful I dropped the fruit mince tarts idea and went for something else: the beautiful gingerbread linzertorte I’d seen on Martha’s website, which was the perfect choice since I had a couple of jars of jam in my pantry. The good thing is: I made the recipe into tartlets, which looked adorable and were a hit with my husband, my sister and my one of my sisters-in-law. The bad thing is: the dough is ultra-mega-soft, kind of hard to work with, and it would have been better to make one large tart (less work). I’m stubborn and didn’t give up on my tartlet idea, but I’ll admit it that while shaping the dough I felt like banging my head against the wall, Heathcliff style. :)

Gingerbread linzer tartlets
slightly adapted from Martha

2 ¼ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (88g) packed dark-brown sugar
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup unsulfured molasses
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg white
1 ¼ cups raspberry jam – I used cherry jam

Sift flour, baking powder, spices, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar; mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add butter; mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add molasses and egg yolks; mix until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll two-thirds of the dough into a 30cm (12in) round, 6mm (¼in) thick. Fit into a lightly buttered 25cm (10in) tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Roll out remaining dough between pieces of floured parchment paper to a 30cm (12in) round, 6mm (¼in) thick. Transfer round with parchment to a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out shapes from round with dot and snowflake-shape cookie cutters. (If desired, reserve snowflake cutouts - bake for 10 minutes at 180°C/350°F and sprinkle tops with confectioners' sugar.). Spread jam over bottom of shell. Lightly beat egg white; brush over rim of tart shell. Carefully slide dough round over shell; press edges to adhere. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F with rack in lowest position (I baked my tartlets at 180°C/350°F).
Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Serves 8 – I made the exact recipe above using 10cm (4in) tartlet pans and got 5 tartlets

Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins - it's Christmas time around here!

Spices are ingredients I love – to the point of buying a cookbook devoted to them – and I use them throughout the year, but this time of the year is when I reach for them the most: lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves to set the mood for Christmas. My holiday series starts now, with super tender muffins perfumed with ginger, both fresh and ground – and to make everything even more delicious, there’s chocolate, too.

Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins
slightly adapted from the super beautiful More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (58g) brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup molasses
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F (I baked my muffins at 180°C/350°F). Line 8 cups of standard muffin pan with paper cases.
Toss the chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and fresh ginger until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat well, then add the yolk, beating well – if the mixture looks curdled, beat in ¼ cup of the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.
At low speed, drizzle in the molasses and mix until combined. With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk – do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 8 – I made the exact recipe above using this pan and got 8 muffins

Molasses and caraway apple muffins

New ingredients always intrigue me: I love trying new flavors in my kitchen. I got even more interested in baking with different flours after making Alice Medrich's fabulous chestnut pound cake and also after purchasing Kim Boyce's fantastic cookbook; Kim's carrot muffins turned out delicious, so when I saw a new recipe for muffins made with a bit of spelt flour I had to try them - these are made with molasses and apples and come from Dan Lepard's delicious column at The Guardian.

Molasses and caraway apple muffins
from Dan Lepard’s column at The Guardian

100g unsalted butter, melted
50ml canola oil
50g molasses
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
3 medium eggs
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoon caraway seeds
150g all purpose flour
150g spelt flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
3 small apples, peeled, cored and diced
flaked almonds, to finish

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F; butter a 12-hole muffin pan or line it with paper cases.
Whisk the butter, oil, molasses and sugar until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time, until evenly mixed. Add the vanilla and caraway, mix well, then add the flours, baking powder and salt, and stir just to combine. Fold in the apples, divide the mixture between the cases, filling them almost to the top, and scatter almonds on top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer to the wire rack.

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above using 1 ridiculously large egg and 1 ridiculously large apple; I used a muffin pan with 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity cavities and got 7 muffins

Ginger and molasses cake + Christian Bale (again)

I know that by telling you again how much I adore Christian Bale I might sound like a broken record, but what can I do? Not only is he an amazing and versatile actor – one of my top favorites – he’s also been making headlines these past few days for all the right reasons – how can one not love the guy? :)
“The Dark Knight Rises” opens tomorrow here in Brazil and my tickets were bought a long, long time ago; anxiety has been building up and I cannot wait to watch the movie.

***
This incredibly tender cake, deliciously perfumed with ground ginger and dotted with little nuggets of crystallized ginger has become a favorite: it has a wintry feel (perfect for July), can feed a crowd and besides being easy to make it is prepared in one saucepan (less washing up). ;)

Ginger and molasses cake
slightly adapted from the always fabulous Donna Hay Magazine

2 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (335g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, chopped
2/3 cup golden syrup (I used corn syrup)
2/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup (116g) dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
2 eggs
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, ground ginger and salt.
Place the butter, golden syrup, molasses, brown sugar and crystallized ginger in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat.
In a teacup, combine the baking soda and the water and add to the saucepan, stirring to combine. Add the buttermilk and eggs and mix to combine. Add the sifted ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until risen and golden and skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely, then dust with icing sugar to serve.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 12-15

Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake

It’s not every day you’ll hear me say (or read me write, for that matter) that I would choose an almond cake over a lemon one: this delicious and very moist cake made me believe that ginger has found a better friend in nuts rather than in citrus.

This loaf cake did not rise and split in the center like I expected it to (and I’ve made it twice already), that is why I drizzled it with the icing – in the end it looked like snow. :)

Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so gorgeous Gingerbread

Cake:
1 ¼ cups (150g) cake flour*
¾ cup (75g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) dark molasses
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons water

Make the cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22.5x12.5x7.5cm (9x5x3in) loaf pan**.
Whisk together the cake flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Place butter in a large bowl and beat in medium speed until creamy. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition (scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally). Reduce the speed to low and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Remove half of the batter and transfer to a medium bowl. Stir the vanilla extract into one bowl and the molasses and spices into the other. Drop large dollops of both batters into the prepared pan. Using a paring knife or wooden skewer, swirl the batters together to get a marbled effect – do not overmix.tap the pan gently once or twice on the work surface to remove any air bubbles.
Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15-20 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.
Make the icing: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, gradually add the lemon juice and water and mix until desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** I made ¾ of the recipe above using a 20x9cm (8x3½ in)

Serves 6-8

Lemon laced gingersnaps

Back in the day when I was little the kids at school used to call me all sorts of names: some were because I was too small, others because I had lots of freckles and also because my skin was too white (kids can be quite cruel sometimes). The two “nicknames” I remember the most are Vicki and Casper – yes, the Friendly Ghost. :S
That came to mind when I baked these gingersnaps: they look kind of pale, don’t they? But do not let that fool you: they carry a lot of flavor and quite a punch from the spices.

Lemon laced gingersnaps
adapted from Sweet Miniatures and Baking for All Occasions

Cookies:
1 1/3 cups (186g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
pinch of salt
85g (¾ stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (107g) light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
1 tablespoon cold brewed coffee – I used water

Icing:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (70g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Sift flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add molasses and coffee (or water) and beat to incorporate. On low speed, add the sifted ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Turn dough onto a large piece of baking paper and shape into a long cylinder, about 3.5cm (1 ½in) in diameter – like Martha does here. Twist the ends and refrigerate until firm, 3-4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Remove the dough cylinder from the baking paper and slice into 5mm thick slices. Place onto prepared baking sheets 2.5cm (1 in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies begin to firm up and look dry on top.
Cool completely on the sheet over a wire rack.
Make the icing: place butter, icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and beat until creamy and smooth. Transfer to a small piping bag (made with a piece of baking paper) and pipe onto the cookies. Set aside to dry completely before storing between sheets of baking paper in an airtight container (room temperature) – iced gingersnaps can be kept this way for up to 3 days; without the icing the cookies can be kept for up to 10 days.

Makes about 30 cookies

Oatmeal sandwich bread

While organizing my books on the new bookshelf I grabbed "Good to the Grain" and stared at its beautiful cover (those delicious rhubarb tarts!) for a few seconds... Then it suddenly hit me: I hadn’t used that book in ages; it’s one of my favorite books and that makes me wonder about the poor books I seldom or never use. Well, that’s just me. So I decided to make something – anything – from the book. Since there was a package of oats listed on my inventory this bread was the recipe of choice. I think you can see on the photo how tender it was and I have got more news for you: this bread makes a killer grilled cheese.

Oatmeal sandwich bread
from the gorgeous Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

2 ¼ teaspoons (7g/1 package) active dry yeast
3 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
2 ½ cups (350g) whole-wheat flour
2 cups (280g) bread flour – I used all purpose
1 cup (115g) rolled oats
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
½ tablespoon table salt*

Lightly butter a large bowl and a 22.5x12.5x7.5cm (9x5x3in) loaf pan. Set aside.
Add 2 cups of warm water, yeast and molasses to the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir, then allow yeast to bloom (about 5 minutes) until it begins to bubble.
Add the flours, oats and butter to the bowl and stir together with a wooden spoon. Cover with a towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
Attach the bowl and the hook to the mixer, add the salt to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking to them. If dough is too sticky, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour (but only if absolutely necessary – avoid adding extra flour).
Scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Transfer to the buttered bowl, cover with a towel and leave it to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it onto a rough rectangle (with the smaller side facing you). Fold the dough like a letter, then roll it to get a cylinder. Pinch the seams together and transfer to the prepared loaf pan, seam side down. Leave to rise again in a warm place for about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Before baking, sprinkle the top of the bread with oats (optional)**. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top crust of the bread is as dark as molasses*** and the bottom crust is dark brown. To check for doneness: give the top of the loaf a thump to see if it sounds hollow – if it doesn’t, bake the bread for another 5 minutes. Check again.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the loaf from the pan. Cool over a wire rack.

* bread wasn’t salty enough for me; I’d add more salt next time
** I brushed the loaf with melted butter to make the oats stick to it but it did not work – as soon as I unmolded the bread the oats fell off on the sink
*** my bread is a little on the pale side but still delicious – it would have burned it I’d waited for it to brown as much as the recipes calls for

Makes 1 large loaf – I made the exact recipe above and got two loaves, using two 20x9cm (8x3½ in) loaf pans

Pear gingerbread cakes

On the couch, trying to find something nice on TV the other day, the hubby asks: “have you watched ‘The Painted Veil’?” – “Yes, four times already. But I would not mind watching it again if you’re in the mood”. What can I say? When I like something, I really like it. That’s just me. ;)

Not only did I learn to love ginger, I also bought a whole book devoted to this ingredient. That’s just me. ;)

Pear gingerbread cakes
adapted from the beautiful Gingerbread

1 1/3 cups (186g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (58g) packed brown sugar
½ cup (120ml) molasses
1 large egg
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
2 pears

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line eight 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans with high paper cases*.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in the molasses and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until incorporated, stopping at least once to scrape the bowl. Reduce the mixing speed to medium-low and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Increase to medium speed and beat until smooth.
Divide each pear lengthwise into quarters and remove the seeds. Divide the batter among the prepared pan and place ¼ of pear into each, sinking the pear pieces a little into the batter. Before placing the pan in the oven, fill the empty cavities halfway with water.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then carefully remove and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

* if using regular paper cases you’ll probably get 12 cakes (and will need an extra pear)

Makes 8

Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs

Those of you who – sometimes – devour lunch with an eye on dessert, please, raise your hand. 0/

I made a beautiful, delicious salad with tuna – from this book – for lunch and, even though I happily savored each bite of it, I was really interested in trying this flan. :)

And since I know you are all so dear and won’t judge me, there goes the recipe. :D

Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts and the beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

Gingerbread cookies:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup (50g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup molasses

Flan:
1 ¾ cups (420ml) heavy cream
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed with the back of the knife
1 cup (200g) + 7 tablespoons (84g) caster (superfine) sugar, divided
1/3 cup (80ml) water
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

Start with the gingerbread: in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add molasses, beat to combine, then add sifted ingredients and stir until just combined. Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper; shape dough into a log. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 4cm log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line a large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap log. Cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake until golden, 15-17 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on the sheet over a wire rack.
Store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Makes 20

Now, the flans: place cream, milk and salt in a heavy medium saucepan and mix to combine. Add the vanilla seeds and bean and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and let infuse for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine 1 cup (200g) sugar and water in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and cook without stirring until syrup is deep amber color, swirling the pan a couple of times. Occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Immediately pour caramel into six ¾ cup (180ml) capacity ramekins. Using oven mitts, tilt each ramekin to coat sides with caramel. Place ramekins in a 20x30cm metal baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks and remaining 7 tablespoons sugar. Gradually add the cream mixture, whisking without creating a lot of foam. Pour custard through a small sieve into the prepared ramekins. Add enough hot water to the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake flans until center is gently set, about 40 minutes – do not overbake. Carefully remove from the oven, transfer ramekins to a wire rack and cool completely. Refrigerate, lightly covered, overnight.
When ready to serve, place some of the gingerbread cookies in a bag and crush with a rolling pin (or use a food processor). Sprinkle each flan with some of the gingerbread crumbs and serve.

Serves 6

Lemon molasses marble cake - a cake with a workout

This cake was the first recipe I tried from this book, which is full of amazing recipes and perfect for a sweet tooth like me; lemon cake, no surprise there, but the idea of marbling it with a molasses cake sounded too good not to try.

Indeed the flavor combo is delicious and the cake is very tender; do not be put off by the different steps of preparation – think of them as a great workout, which will allow you to have an extra cake slice at the end. :)

And don’t forget to nominate your favorite blog on Saveur’s 2011 Food Blog Awards! ;)

Lemon molasses marble cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Classic Home Desserts

Molasses batter:
1 2/3 cups (233g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (60g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
3 large egg yolks
¾ cup (180ml) molasses
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (105g) plain yogurt

Lemon batter:
1 2/3 cups (233g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ cup (195g) plain yogurt
3 large egg whites
pinch of salt

confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22-25cm (9-10in) Bundt or tube pan.
Start by making the molasses batter: sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until very light. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, then beat in the molasses. Add the sifted ingredients to the batter alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
Now, make the lemon batter: sift the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar into a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest until very light. Add the lemon juice. Add the sifted ingredients to the batter alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Beat the egg whites with the salt until nearly stiff. Gently fold into the lemon batter.
Drop 3-4 large dollops of the lemon batter into the prepared pan. Top with 3-4 dollops of the molasses batter (give it a nice stir for it was sitting around while you were making the lemon batter). Continue layering the batters. With a butter knife, swirl the batters together a couple of times to get the marbled effect – don’t mix them much.
Bake for about 1 hour or until the cake is risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, and then carefully unmold it onto the rack. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the cake with icing sugar to serve.

Serves about 12 – I made 2/3 of the recipe above and used an 8-cup capacity ring pan

Plum sorbet sandwiches with molasses cookies

My first ice cream sandwiches – I could not believe how moreish these are. :D

Even thought I thought the cookies overpowered the sorbet flavor a little – I would go for vanilla cookies with this sorbet next time – these sandwiches were pretty good. :)

Speaking of moreish, I’m hoping Natalie Portman gets the Oscar this year: not only because her performance on “Black Swan” is absolutely breathtaking, but also because she delivers the best acceptance speeches – yes, Natalie, it’s not OK to be an a**hole; some people I know should definitely listen to you. :D

Plum sorbet sandwiches with molasses cookies
sorbet from Sunday Suppers at Lucques, cookies from Flour

Sorbet:
450g (1 pound) very ripe juicy plums
½ cup (100g) caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons honey
juice of ½ lemon

Cookies:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cups (220g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup unsulphured dark molasses
1 egg
granulated sugar, for coating

Start by making the sorbet: cut the plums in half, remove the pits, then cut the halves into quarters. Toss the plums with the sugar and honey and let sit for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and purée until very smooth – I tried using a food processor, but the mixture was still to chunky, to I used the processor after that. Season with lemon juice, to taste.
Chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator, then process the purée in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Now, the cookies: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the butter, brown sugar, molasses and egg in low speed for about 10 seconds or until well combined. Add the dry ingredients at once and stir just until they’re totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed. Scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Scoop out 1 leveled tablespoon of dough and roll gently the granulated sugar – if the dough is very cold you’ll be able to roll the dough into balls using your hands before rolling them in the sugar.
Place onto prepared pans, spacing them 2.5 inches apart. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the cookies crack on top and are just barely firm to the touch – mine never cracked, so I remove them from the oven when they were lightly golden on the bottom. Let cool on the baking sheet, on a wire rack, for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 50 cookies

Assembling the sandwiches: scoop about 2 ½ tablespoons of the sorbet onto the bottom side of one cookie, then place the bottom side of a second cookie over the sorbet pressing gently to make a sandwich. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.

Makes about 15 sandwiches – there will be some cookies left; they can be kept in an airtight container for up to 5 days.