Tuesday 10 February 2009

Moist Gingerbread cake with hot caramel sauce



Moist Gingerbread Recipe

(I'm sorry, I left out some ingredients!! I just remembered because I'm making another batch right now...so sorry!)

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup dark molasses
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons ground ginger (I actually grated some fresh ginger and used the juice instead this time. No idea how it'd turn out as it's still in the oven right now)
  • 1 teaspoon grounded nutmeg (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
  • 2 teaspoon of grounded cinnamon
  • 1 teapoon grounded clove (I only use slightly more 1/4 teaspoon)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups all purpose flour

METHOD:

  1. Put molasses in a mixing bowl, add boiling water and butter and stir until well mixed.
  2. Add salt, ginger, and soda and stir lightly.
  3. Then stir in just enough flour to moisten and mix ingredients.
  4. Turn into a baking pan / dish (I used a rectangular one).
  5. Bake at 3750F (190 °C )for 25 to 35 minutes [I actually used 180°C because my oven tends to burn my cookies and cakes!! it really depends on your oven], or until top springs back when pressed lightly and bread pulls away from sides of pan.
  6. Serve as is, with butter, or with a sauce. I've made some caramel sauce and served it with vanilla icecream!!


**It's the amount of molasses used and hot water that makes this cake moist, I'm not sure it'd be even more moist if extra molasses is put in, but I'll try it next time!**

Yield: 6 servings

Caramel Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 6 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:

  1. Make sure you have everything ready to go before starting because making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn.
  2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. Swirl the pan a bit from this point on. Use a brush to dip into a cup of water and brush it at the side of the pot (the rim) during the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly and prevent it from burning, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize. [I was too lazy when I made this so I skipped the whole brusing water at the rim part!]
  3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
  4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably.
  5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

** If you find the sauce too think then just put in more cream (the more butter and less cream the thicker the sauce gets**

The sauce can be kept in the fridge, just scope out the amount u need and heat it up on low heat, keep stirring gently and you can add a couple of spoonful of milk in it to prevent it from getting too thick.

This recipe makes a little over one cup of sauce.