I’m on a GINGER high, or call it a roll, but my days are full of ginger. It’s a flavour, with sharpness, that I’ve come to love, and am surprised that the kids have taken to it so willingly too. Fresh ginger is far more pronounced in its gingery taste, and since it’s the season for fresh, wonderful young ginger root here, I’m taking full advantage of it!
Ginger has proven medicinal value, and I have been using it as a base for tea, with Indian basil/tulsi, for my flu ridden husband. Have also made a ginger-honey concoction for the family to heal the cough. I’ve really taken a long shot at it of late, and am very much enjoying using it. Winter means all hearty, spicy and full of warm wholesome flavour. This Ginger cake from David Lebovitz promises all this and much more. It satisfies a deep craving for that something which winter demands, as do these cookies I found at BHG Holiday Cookies.
I love the choice of names that Levobitz’s books have. Something entirely charming about them… and different. ‘Room for Dessert, ‘ Sweet Life in Paris, ‘The Perfect Scoop’, ‘Ripe for Dessert’ … This lovely cake recipe from his first book “Room for Dessert” can be found throughout the blogs and on Epicurious.
The author recommends serving it with stewed or poached plums and whipped cream in “Room for Dessert“, but it’s deliciously moist and flavoursome on it’s own and stores well for a few days. Must admit that a dollop of cream, with some candied orange and ginger ups the luxury on this cake!
Fresh Ginger Cake adapted from recipe byDavid Lebovitz from “Room for Dessert”
“This is the most often requested recipe in my repertoire, and I’ve passed it on to many, many people. It appears so often on Bay Area menus (sometimes called Dave’s ginger cake, which, I admit, amuses and flatters me) that I sometimes think I’m responsible for too much of a good thing. Then I order it, taste it, and decide not to worry: This simple cake is wonderful…”
Ingredients: 4 ounces fresh ginger 1/2 cup mild molasses (or 1 cup molasses, and omit the honey) 1/2 cup honey (I used honey because I had just 1/2 a cup of molasses) 1 cup sugar 1 cup vegetable oil, preferably peanut 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves ( I ground whole cloves with a little sugar & sifted them with the flour) 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 cup water 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 eggs, at room temperature
Method: Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 9 by 3-inch round cake pan or a 9 1/2 inch spring form pan with a circle of parchment paper.
Peel, slice, and chop the ginger very fine with a knife (I used my microplaner). Mix together the molasses, honey, sugar, and oil. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper.
Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan, stir in the baking soda, and then mix the hot water into the molasses mixture. Stir in the ginger.
Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the batter. Add the eggs, and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 1 hour, until the top of the cake springs back lightly when pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top of the cake browns too quickly before the cake is done, drape a piece of foil over it and continue baking.
Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.
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Onto the ginger cookies for which I used fresh minced ginger instead of ginger powder, and gur / jaggery instead of molasses. These cookies are especially for my sweet friend Susan @ Food Blogga for her Eat Christmas Cookies, Season 3 event. Do stop by here to see the round-up which is updated as the cookies come in..
Jaggery or “Gur” or whole sugar is a pure, wholesome, traditional, unrefined, whole sugar. It contains the natural goodness of minerals and vitamins inherently present in sugarcane juice and this crowns it as one of the most wholesome and healthy sugars in the world. In Mexico and South America, it is also known as panela.
Chocolate Gingerbread Drops Adapted fromBHG Holiday Cookies Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup gur/jaggery (or molasses) 1 tbsp honey (omit if using molasses) 1 egg 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup dried tart red cherries 2/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Method:
Preheat oven to 190C. In large mixing bowl beat butter, brown sugar, baking soda, ginger, allspice, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in jaggery, honey and egg. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer; stir in any remaining flour with wooden spoon. Stir in cherries and chocolate.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake about 8 – 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Makes 36 cookies.
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“So often something like a cinnamon roll or a sticky bun is overpowering and very sweet. The subtle flavors of the scone tend to be something that our customers are really looking for.” Jamie Golladay
I’m awfully sorry Mr Lebovitz, but the name Monsieur McFrugal still pops up in my mind each time I see your tweets, or read your posts. David Lebovitzs’ books are on my wishlist, and I was thrilled to find a recipe from another favourite author, Alice Medrich, on his blog. The White Chocolate & Sour Cherry Scones were inspired by an Alice Medrich recipe, an author I have come to love because of her innovative approach to drawing flavour & texture out of food beautifully. I find her recipes refreshing and inspirational, as I do Davids’, though sadly I don’t own either of their books. My first exposure to Alice Medrich was when I baked this Orange & Olive Oil Cake from Cafe Fernando quite a while ago.Back to the Lebovitz post. 3 things stuck in my mind about the it when I read it. The first was a handful (not very pretty at all) of milk solids. The second, David referring to himself as being Monsieur McFrugal while using a bottle of low-fat organic milk which added to his morning café au lait, curdled into a zillion tiny little bits. Ugh! The 3rd was, of course, him using that milk to make delicious looking scones. (I really enjoyed reading his post here). I made these scones on a day I was clearing the fridge. I had plenty of bits & bobs of leftover everything that occupy shelf space in this horrid heat. David posted these deliciously moreish & rustic scones way back in May 2009, and I’ve had them on my mind since.
Being pretty much frugal myself, I tend to use pantry items & clear shelves before I set off to buy more stuff. Baking is a passion for me, & I like to make the most of what I have on hand. This morning was no different. Being king on my castle, I had buttermilk on hand and the picture of scones in my mind. If he could make them with ‘claberred’ organic milk, the buttermilk would surely work too!
I substituted things as usual, with his basic recipe as my benchmark. My Ghirardeli dark chocolate chips had reached the bottom of the bag, so they weren’t enough for cookies. They needed a befitting destination, & these scones made for the likely answer. In went some dried craisins, & to make the scones merrier,some chopped walnuts too! Of course, the minute I popped the scones into the oven, I suffered a cringe of regret. Maybe I should have put in candied ginger (made from a Lebovitz recipe) instead of the walnuts. They might have tasted good in there too. However, the result with dark chocolate, craisins & walnuts was outstanding! The buttermilk worked well in there, and the scones were light & just right.
I had a field day substituting. Out of sour dried cherries, I tossed some chopped dried craisins with citric salt that I have from Ukraine. It added just the right sourness to the craisins, but if anyone has ideas of how better to use citric salt, I would be more than thankful to hear from you. I have quite a few sachets of those! I used rolled oats instead of buckwheat, which I was out of. I also did an egg white wash on top instead of an egg yolk one, & sprinkled the top generously with vanilla sugar. The sugar added a wickedly delicious taste to the scones. I have to add that they tasted best warm out of the oven. No need for clotted cream here, but that again would add luxury to these rustic bites! I might use candied ginger & white chocolate chunks next time, because next time will be here soon!
DARK CHOCOLATE, DRIED CRAISIN & WALNUT SCONES adapted fromDavid Lebovitz’spost here adapted by him fromPure Dessert (Artisan)byAlice Medrich See the Notes at the end of the recipe for tips on handling the dough. Ingredients: 1 large egg 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup rolled oats (the recipe has buckwheat, which I didn’t have) 1/3 cup cornmeal, preferably stone-ground 1/3 cup vanilla sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup / 100gms unsalted butter, frozen 1 cup dark chocolate chips 1/2 cup coarsely-chopped dried craisins (I tossed mine in citric salt) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon milk Vanilla sugar (or granulated) sugar for dredging the scones
Method:
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C) and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir together the egg with the buttermilk.
In the food processor, briefly pulse the flour, oats, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Grate in frozen butter directly into the bowl & briefly pulse again till a breadcrumb like texture is achieved. Stir in the chocolate chips, craisins & walnuts.
Add the wet ingredients, stirring with a spatula, until the dough is moistened.
On a lightly-floured surface, pat the dough into an 8-inch (20 cm) round. If it’s too wet and is very sticky, knead in a spoonful or two of flour on the countertop. (I patted it directly on the cookie sheet). In David’s words, The originally recipe called for 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk and cream, and my dough was very sticky, which may be the original intent, but I found it hard to work with. Slightly less than 1/2 cup, (115 ml) seemed right. Good thing making scones isn’t rocket science!
Use a pastry scraper to divide the dough into twelve wedges. Brush the tops of each wedge with the beaten egg white & generously sprinkle with vanilla sugar.
Bake the scones for 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Re cut the slices immediately with a pastry cutter if need be. (I needed to do it).
Makes 12
Notes from David Lebovitz:There’s two theories about making biscuits and scones; one says the batter should be firm enough the cut, the other says it should be wet and spoonable. If your dough is very soft, or you don’t want to get the counter dirty, you can certainly spoon it onto the prepared baking sheet in 8 mounds. For firm, neater-looking scones, the dough should be not too sticky and you can knead a bit more flour into the dough. I’m happy to sacrifice picture-perfect scones for ones that are light and tender. If you’re looking for a sturdier scone, you might want to check out my Chocolate Cherry Scone recipe in my book, The Great Book of Chocolate. Since the scone dough is on the soft side, this is the time to get out your metal pastry scraper. If you don’t have one, a metal spatula will make lifting the dough, and the cut scones, a little easier.
