Gingerbread

Today I took on baking the Williams-Sonoma Crystallized-Ginger Gingerbread. (Yes that is a picture of the gingerbread I made today!) This is the start of the baking adventure, but first the ingredient finding. This seemed a bit challenging. I could not find minced crystallized ginger at any of the local grocery stores, but was able to find crystallized ginger. The idea of mincing these hard chunks was an obstacle I was willing to take on. Actually come to find out it was really easy. I just popped them in my chopper for a few seconds and ta-dah they were minced! And by the way, doing this gave off an amazingly pleasant ginger aroma! The recipe itself was very easy to follow. The ingredient list seemed a little long only because you are using several spices (most of which you would have in your cupboard already if you do even the most basic baking). So anyway, I combined all the ingredients as directed - I used the low-fat yogurt option. I poured the batter into a loaf pan and put it in my oven. Of course at this point I was excited and anxious about how my first gingerbread would turn out. 30 minutes into the baking I could smell the gingerbread throughout my house. After 45 minutes the gingerbread was ready to be taken out. After letting it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, I transferred it to a wire cooling rack and sprinkled 3/4 of a raw sugar individual packet on top. After it cooled for about 15 more minutes, I sliced the gingerbread and had a slice. It was so yummy! If I could dance, I would have right there in my kitchen....so glad my first baking adventure worked out and was delicious too!

Here is the recipe as it appears on the Williams-Sonoma website.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/crystallized-ginger-gingerbread.html

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup molasses
• 1⁄2 cup minced crystallized ginger
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1⁄4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1⁄2 cup buttermilk or plain low-fat or whole
  yogurt
• Demerara or other raw sugar for sprinkling
  (optional)

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy and fluffy. Stir in the molasses and crystallized ginger. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour; mix until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the gingerbread is golden and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Turn the loaf out onto the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with demerara sugar. Makes 1 loaf; serves 10 to 12.

Notes: This tender, moist, dark gingerbread is good served warm with poached pears and their syrup or with yogurt (see related recipes at right). Or, try it with afternoon tea or coffee. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Adapted from New Healthy Kitchen Series, Desserts, by Annabel Langbein (Simon & Schuster, 2006).