Tis The Season For Gingercake

     A standard dessert growing up was my mother's gingerbread.  Soft, damp and slathered with my favorite chocolate icing, it was the smell  and texture of being at the kitchen table with the winds howling  around the apartment building.  The sweet strange smell of a gummy eraser, the  dark atmosphere of the entry way to Nightingale Bamford School for Girl's where I would wait to be picked up at 4 o'clock, the sudden cold shock of air as the doors opened and parents picked up their children-- and then home to a tea of gingerbread and milk.  Mama's opinion
that the molasses was strengthening  allowed second helpings and having one slice already in my belly I could luxuriously draw out the pleasure of the second while putting off homework for a while to sit and watch Mama move like a dancer in the kitchen.

For years I had that recipe, carefully written out in my mother's hand, and made it many times every winter, still choosing to believe that a second piece was good for me.  And then it disappeared. Some move between cities was probably to blame . I have faith that it'll turn up, but in the meantime, this moist rich version is an excellent substitute. It is the Food Network's  recipe with some slight tweaking.


                                                      
                                                       Gingercake


1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses

3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

3 eggs, room temperature

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and cloves

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325F

1. Spray a 9 by 12 baking pan with Pam.
2. Mix together in a large bowl the oil, molasses, sugar and ginger. Lightly beat the eggs and add, mixing well.
3.Whisk together the flour, spices and salt and add to molasses mixture-stirring till smooth.
4. Add the baking soda to the boiling water and carefully incorporate it into the batter. Bake about 45  minutes, turning it halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, put one cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup butter into a saucepan and stir over medium heat till smooth. Add 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and bring to a boil and allow it to cook for about 6 minutes until thick and syrupy. Off the heat, add 1 tablespoon instant espesso and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

When the cake is baked, allow it to cool for 15 minutes, then poke holes all over the top and, leaving it in its pan, pour the glaze all over it, pushing it gently into the holes.
 .



that the molasses was strengthening  allowed second helpings and having one slice already in my belly I could luxuriously draw out the pleasure of the second while putting off homework for a while to sit and watch Mama move like a dancer in the kitchen.

For years I had that recipe, carefully written out in my mother's hand, and made it many times every winter, still choosing to believe that a second piece was good for me.  And then it disappeared. Some move between cities was probably to blame . I have faith that it'll turn up, but in the meantime, this moist rich version is an excellent substitute. It is the Food Network's  recipe with some slight tweaking.


                                                      
                                                       Gingercake


1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses

3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

3 eggs, room temperature

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and cloves

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325F

1. Spray a 9 by 12 baking pan with Pam.
2. Mix together in a large bowl the oil, molasses, sugar and ginger. Lightly beat the eggs and add, mixing well.
3.Whisk together the flour, spices and salt and add to molasses mixture-stirring till smooth.
4. Add the baking soda to the boiling water and carefully incorporate it into the batter. Bake about 45  minutes, turning it halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, put one cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup butter into a saucepan and stir over medium heat till smooth. Add 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and bring to a boil and allow it to cook for about 6 minutes until thick and syrupy. Off the heat, add 1 tablespoon instant espesso and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

When the cake is baked, allow it to cool for 15 minutes, then poke holes all over the top and, leaving it in its pan, pour the glaze all over it, pushing it gently into the holes.
 .