Laurie Colwin's Gingerbread
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • ½ c. molasses or cane syrup
  • 6 T butter
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ c. buttermilk
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 T ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ⅓ c. packed brown sugar
  • Pinch salt
  • ¼ c.- ½ c. golden raisins (optional)
  • Granulated sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare an 8 inch round cake tin (my favorite product for cakes is something called Baker's Joy or one of its many imitators. It’s a non stick spray with flour in it, and nothing works better to prevent cakes sticking in the pans. If you don’t have this, butter the cake tin well and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. (I’m with Laurie on this one, who says “Parchment paper has come to have great importance in my kitchen, and it is my opinion that the person who invented it should get a Nobel Prize.”))
  2. Melt butter in a dish and combine with molasses. In a separate dish beat egg and buttermilk together. Mix together the flour, baking soda, spices, sugar and salt, then add the egg mixture, then the syrup mixture, and mix well. If using, stir in the raisins.
  3. Tip into the cake pan, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 10 minutes in the 375-degree oven, turn the heat down to 325 degrees, and bake 35 to 40 minutes more. It’s OK if this seems a bit splodgy in the middle – you don’t want to overbake it.
  4. Let cool and enjoy. As I mentioned, this is particularly good with coffee.
Notes
Adapted from More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
Recipe by The Domestic Front at http://www.thedomesticfront.com/laurie-colwins-gingerbread/