Gingerbread is one of my favorites but a lot of people just are not into ginger these days. Even here at my house ginger cookies seem to last longer than the oatmeal and honey, peanut better, or sugar cookies. Ginger can be used for many purposes such as pumpkin pie, puddings, applesauce, baked beans; beef, veal, or poultry, and I find it welcome in all.
The fog is socked in pretty good this morning here in Colorado, with promises of burning off later today. I have decided to turn on the oven and make gingerbread. The kitchen will be more than happy to share the great aroma with the other rooms in the house, and who knows it might be cause to get someone out of bed to see what all the excitement is about.
For gingerbread you need:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon boiling water
2 cups molasses (not blackstrap)
1 3/4 cups cream
5 cups flour, sifted
2 Tablespoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer cream softened butter, add sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to cream together. Add the baking soda into the boiling water, stir until dissolved, and mix into the molasses. Add the molasses into the butter and mix. Stir in the cream and flour and mix until smooth. Add the spices and mix well. Pour into a well greased 9x13x2 inch baking pan. Bake 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
That is all there is to it. Now comes the time to make a major decision – serve with whipped cream or lemon sauce. Humm . . .
