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Saturday, February 24, 2018

BAKING GRANDMA'S GINGER CAKE

Kathy's Egg Beater
So that we don't have to refer to a previous post, here again is the recipe for Grandma's ginger cake.

Grandma Portfors' Ginger Cake
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar - fill with molasses. Beat
1/2 cup shortening -- fill with hot water
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 3/4 cup cake flour
salt
Beat with egg beater.

I think my grandmother baked by the "about what you'd think" rule. Mother, on the other hand, was a stickler for exact measurement. I'm somewhere in between.

The other evening I decided to try this recipe, even though I know there are better ones today. You know, whether we call it improvement or not, baking products change, but I tried to duplicate this recipe. I even bought cake flour. I used the mild-flavored Brer Rabbit molasses, but in taste-testing, Mike opines that there's not much difference between the mild and full-flavored varieties.

I used half of a Crisco baking stick (1/2 cup), and because I ignored the rule of blending the shortening and sugar first, the shortening didn't blend. I really think the hot water was supposed to melt the shortening, and I didn't make that happen.

Finished Product
I realized the recipe didn't call for ginger, so I added a teaspoon with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Really -- a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg wasn't nearly enough, I thought, so I doubled the cinnamon. Seems like "back in the day" recipes are stingy with flavoring. Perhaps they were expensive or hard to come by. For example, I remember asking my mother if I couldn't use more. "No!" she would say; "half is plenty." Now mistress of my own kitchen, I use plenty of vanilla and spices, albeit with some guilt.

I also added two handfuls of raisins, and Mike said it could use more. I do like raisins in my gingerbread.

In the end, it was overbaked, as is my habit. I baked it at 325 for 25 minutes and it wasn't set, so I baked it 10 minutes longer when I should have gone for 5 minutes. But it was good, we thought. The next evening I made applesauce in my Instant Pot, and that was delicious. The ginger cake topped with applesauce was especially good.

It seems like we used to spread butter on gingerbread. I can't remember for sure. KW


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4 comments:

  1. HallieFebruary 28, 2018 at 5:47 PM

    Yes--I thought maybe she was mixing the hot water and shortening and the molasses and sugar. But what is she filling to? Is she using a 1 cup and doing approximately half and half? I wonder how much it really matters.

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  2. KathyFebruary 28, 2018 at 6:15 PM

    It mattered to my mother. It didn't matter to her mother. Exact measuring insures a good end product, but I have found you can fudge quite a bit and get away with it.

    In the "old days," measurements weren't standard. The farm wife measured by what she had on hand -- teacups, spoons of various sizes. Estimates might be the size of an egg or the size of a walnut, or even "about what you'd think." If you weren't familiar with a recipe, you might not know what to think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ChrisFebruary 28, 2018 at 9:22 PM

    When I was little, Dad bought me a Westinghouse cookbook for kids and it had a great recipe for gingerbread in it. I remember making it several times. Now I'm hungry!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. KathyMarch 1, 2018 at 6:50 AM

    I wonder if you still have that cookbook for kids, Chris.

    ReplyDelete