My childhood friend Lisa wrote me recently and asked me if I had a good gingerbread recipe. I realized that I did not! The closest thing I had to that were the ginger cookies I had made a little while ago. This inspired me, I went on a quest for great homemade gingerbread. I turned to the cookbook Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens for some help. I had no idea what I was in for!
First, use much bigger mixing bowls than I did! This makes a ton of batter. Cream 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup shortening and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Then add 1 beaten egg and 1 cup molasses. Mix well.
Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cloves (I added 1/4 tsp). Add to molasses mixture. Stir well.
Stir in 1 cup of hot water, beat until smooth. Bake in a greased 9 x 9″ square pan.
I should have realized looking at this pan that something was wrong. Like it was way too small! Bake in a 350F oven for 35 minutes “or until done.”
Ugh!!! Ginger goo, not ginger BREAD. When this first came out of the oven it was all tall, not depressed in the middle. I used a toothpick to test it and it came out clean. Looks like my pan being 1″ smaller than the recipe got me into a whole heap of baking trouble. The question? Can I fix it?
I wracked my brain to figure out if there was a way to fix this gooey raw middle mess. I had heard of people steaming cakes so I tried to use a steaming method I came up with to cook the middle, hopefully without drying out the rest of the cake.
I put the cake back into the square pan, covered it with parchment paper which I cinched closed with butcher’s twine. I put the pan into a large casserole dish and filled it halfway with boiling water. I put it in a 300F oven for 90 minutes to slowly bake through.
I used a biscuit cutter and cut this piece out of the middle of the gingerbread and was thrilled to see it was not raw! I thought I was in the clear so I poured some of their lemon sauce over the top and…
… even with all that sauce, the cake was still totally too dry. At least for me. What a profound disappointment! As all of this was my fault for using the wrong pan size, I can not rate or recommend this recipe in any way. I am sure properly baked, this is delicious but for me that is just a guess. Time to go out and buy a bigger cake pan because I am pretty sure this is not the first time this has happened to me.
At least now I know that you can successfully save a raw cake, I am just not convinced it is worth the extra effort.
Do you have a gingerbread recipe you could recommend? I would really love to hear about it if you do! Something potentially tried and true perhaps?
I like ginger cookies, but gingerbread has never really turned my crank. I think it’s the large amount of molasses that it contains. Not my fave.
Not being a big cake or sweets eater .. Im almsot wondering why Im replying lol ! 😉 Just wanted to add the pics were great , and I love that you posted a bad turn out. I thought I was the only one who would do such a thing !! Great work. Oh and congrats on being the hot pepper on FNC!!
Mmm…Gingerbread with lemon sauce brings back memories! I remember that my sister & I used to make it, but not sure whether I still have a recipe kicking around. I will have to check.
Debra, I will only like it if it doesn’t have too much cloves and is moist.
Rich, thanks for commenting! I regularly share my disasters here, there are many different kinds, baking is more rare than cooking when it comes to failures for me but it happens to everyone. Thank you so much! I am pretty darn excited about being the new FNC hot pepper!
JavaChick, sure, let me know if you have your recipe handy. My mother-in-law Lorraine’s going to find hers too.
Congratulations on the “Hot Pepper”, a well deserved win. Regarding your cake,I feel your pain. I recently had the same frustrating experience with a chocolate cake. I ended up making a second cake,using the same size pan but raising the baking temperature. It turned out properly baked and moist.
It actually looks totally delicious, fabulous photos, you captured a very warm and homey feeling, looks like a perfect winter dessert. Sorry to hear that it was blah.
Still looks good! The recipes from that book tend to be simple,less spiced and not as decadent as contemporary versions. I think maybe people had less and these things were a luxury? Not sure.
The cake does indeed look good! Good for you for trying… I would have dumped it after removing it from the oven. Love the post! We have all been there!
We have made that recipe dozens of times. Frequently double it for holiday parties. It takes way longer to bake then it says. Otherwise it has always been a favorite and is moist and dark amd wonderful.
I have made this cake LOTS of times and it always turns out perfect. Everyone loves it.