Grandma Tillie's Gingerbread

So simple, so easy. It's not fancy, but it is spicy delicious, great in the Fall and Winter.

GRANDMA TILLIE'S GINGERBREAD

• preheat oven to 350 degrees

• butter well a 9 x 9 baking pan
  

In a large bowl, whisk together:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (note: reduce this amount by half if you use salted butter in the next step)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking SODA
Set aside for now.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat:
1 stick unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the flour mixture above by half)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar

Beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Add:
1 egg
Blend well.

Then, slowly add in:
1/2 cup molasses (I highly recommend Brer Rabbit Molasses -- nothing else is quite the same)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Mix until well blended.

Scrape the bowl down.

Add the flour mixture on low speed until smooth, then add:
1/2 cup hot water
Beat for 1 minute. (mixture may look curdled, but that's ok.) 

Scrape the bowl and mix a little longer if there are unincorporated bits.

Spread in the well buttered 9 x 9 pan, then bake for 40 - 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack.

Cover tightly with foil when cool. Cut into large squares and serve with a dollop or so of whipped cream.

Gingerbread Men

My intrepid sister-in-law, Debbie, asked me for the Gingerbread Men recipe we have been using for eons; somehow, the shreds of paper with loved recipes always disappear. As it turns out, it was published in the December 1982 issue of Gourmet magazine. It's still the best recipe, and so the tradition of making and decorating them continues as she bakes them with her grandson (my great nephew) Colton. Have fun, Mimi and Colton!

Gingerbread Men

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1 cup FIRMLY packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup molasses (I use Brer Rabbit)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in the egg, molasses, and vinegar.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture a little at a time. Dough will be soft. Divide dough into 4 balls, dust lightly with flour, flatten each ball, then wrap each in wax paper or plastic wrap and REFRIGERATE AT LEAST 6 HOURS or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove a ball of dough and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/8" thickness or less. Cut with floured cookie cutters (mine are 4" tall gingerbread men). Transfer with a spatula to parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 7 - 8 minutes or until no imprint remains when touched lightly with your finger. Remove and cool the cookie sheets on racks. Pipe with sugar icing (recipe below); let them set 20 minutes or so before storing -- icing must be dry. Makes about 60 4" men, so your mileage may vary depending on the cutters you use.

Store in a tightly covered tin.

Sugar Icing:

2 egg whites*

pinch of cream of tartar

2 teaspoons water

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and water together until frothy, then add sugar gradually until it forms stiff peaks. Use a pastry bag to pipe the cookies. 

*you can use powdered egg whites if you want, and make enough per directions for 2 egg whites -- this recipe was published long before a salmonella problem existed.

Picnic Cake: Chocolate Sheet Cake

Need a cake for a crowd, picnic, reunion or other summer event? Sheet cakes are the answer. Here's one from my friend Nancy in New Braunfels, TX:

Mom's Chocolate Cake
from The Houston Chronicle

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup vegetable oil 
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. In a saucepan, combine butter, oil cocoa and water; bring to a boil, remove from heat. Pour the boiled mixture over the dry ingredients and mix. Add buttermilk and stir just until blended. Add eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat well and pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until at toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa or 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 tablespoons buttermilk
16 ounce box confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter, chocolate or cocoa and buttermilk in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Add the powered sugar a little at a time, beating well between additions; add salt and blend well. Add vanilla and mix. Frost cake after it has cooled completely.