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| Kathy's Egg Beater |
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.
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| Finished Product |
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
4 comments:
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.
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.
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!!!
I wonder if you still have that cookbook for kids, Chris.
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