Comments on: real life test kitchen: a gingerbread cake disaster

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » kitchen disasters: my cake flop

shelterrific » Blog Archive » kitchen disasters: my cake flop — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:42:56 +0000

[...] with a cake-baking catastrophe. Last December, Angela told us all about her troubles with gingerbread. So, now it’s your turn to spill (pun intended) your kitchen disaster story. Go on, get it off [...]

By: Angela M.

Angela M. — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:21:58 +0000

Thanks for the personal response Heidi. You’re right — the problems I had with the recipe could be a combo of our oven, the molasses, and just personal taste. Let us know what your readers say if you post it again!

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » real life test kitchen: cocoa fudge cookies

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:45:47 +0000

[...] last week’s gingerbread cake disaster, I decided to satisfy my baking itch with something a little simpler this weekend: cocoa fudge [...]

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:46:26 +0000

Hi Angela,

I tested the gingerbread cake recipe again last night (I take it pretty seriously if someone says they have trouble with something I’ve said worked) - it turned out really nicely - moist, flavorful, etc. I baked it for about an hour and ten minutes in my oven. If I make it again, I might shave off another five minutes - but every oven has its quirks. As far as the bitterness you experienced - I like to use Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Molasses - it is an unsulphered blackstrap molasses that is delicious straight out of the bottle -it lends a nice depth to the cake. Maybe the brand you used just tastes extra harsh, does it taste good when you try it straight?

I’m thinking about throwing the recipe back out to my readers sometime over the holidays (as a post from the archives) - see if any of them have been using it over the past couple years. See what their experience has been.

Sorry you had trouble with a recipe I highlighted on my site. Warmest regards and happy holidays, -Heidi

By: Pencils

Pencils — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:13:39 +0000

Joan A–I LOVE the drawings! My mom got this cookbook when she married, so I grew up with it. It wasn’t until I was older that I appreciated just how fabulous the midcentury drawings really are. I wish Betty Crocker would publish a facsimile edition, as they’ve done with other vintage cookbooks. Considering how much these go for on eBay and other auction sites ($80+) I’m sure it would sell some copies. And then I could retire my beat-up one from active cooking. Which I didn’t pay $80 for, but $3 in a Louisiana junk shop.

By: Joan A.

Joan A. — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:09:57 +0000

Pencils–That Betty Crocker is one of my favorites, partly because of the recipes, and partly because of the drawings.

By: Pencils

Pencils — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:38:34 +0000

if you want something more “bready” and don’t think the pumpkin season is over, this is wonderful bread. I got it from Bon Appetit a few years ago.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108606

Cranberry-walnut pumpkin bread

Makes 1 loaf.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9 1/4×5 1/4×3-inch loaf pan. Line bottom and 2 long sides with waxed paper. Whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating until blended. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin, then vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions each. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Transfer batter to pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around bread at short ends to loosen from pan. Turn bread out onto rack; peel off waxed paper. Cool bread completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Wrap and store at room temperature.)

By: Pencils

Pencils — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:36:01 +0000

I have the best gingerbread recipe, I make it all the time, it’s incredibly easy and moist, doesn’t need frosting. My husband and I ate an entire pan of it last weekend. It’s in my 1961 Betty Crocker New Picture Cookbook (my favorite) and even in there it says it’s an old recipe, that it was “known as ‘Fort Atkinson Gingerbread’ in the popular old Gold Medal cookbook that was a treasure trove for brides in the 1870s.” You need to make sure to use “robust” molasses, I use the Grandma’s brand with the green label.

1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 cup dark molasses
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 325F. Grease and flour square pan 9″x9″, or 9″ ring mold. Mix butter, sugar and egg thoroughly. Blend in molasses and water. Stir together dry ingredients; blend in. Beat until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:36:48 +0000

Hmm. I’ll have to give this a try again (it has been a while), but I remember it being the best gingerbread cake I’d ever tasted by a long shot. I actually included it on my site as part of a write-up about Regan Daley’s amazing In the Sweet Kitchen - a fantastic baking book…I’ll see if I run into any of your problems (Angela, did you use any substitutions by any chance?)

By: Vespabelle

Vespabelle — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:20:24 +0000

Like Lyn, I use the Joy of Cooking recipe. Easy, basic. If you want more spice, it’s pretty easy to up the amount of ginger (or add fresh in addition to the ground!