Gramercy Tavern's Gingerbread

I have a folder in my email account for filing recipes that people send to me so they don't get lost in the bottomless pit that is my inbox. I was flipping through it a couple of days ago and came across this recipe that my sister sent to me on Christmas Day, nearly five years ago, from a website we both like called smittenkitchen.com. The recipe was created by Chef Claudia Fleming when she was at the Gramercy in New York City.

Since I've been on a bundt cake streak this week, I decided it was time to give this a try. After this, maybe I need to work through the rest of that recipe folder. Anyway.

Here's today's cast! Granulated sugar is also part of the cast but I forgot to grab it from the fridge before I took the picture. Pretend, please.
I like the smell of Guinness but I don't like it as a beverage. I'm sure it'll be smashing in the gingerbread though.
The Guinness and molasses are mixed in a saucepan and brought to a boil.
The mixture is removed from the heat and baking soda is added.
The baking soda foams up once it hits the mixture and makes a cool fizzing sound. I gave it a stir and left the whole thing to cool to room temperature.
The bundt pan has to be well-greased and then floured. The flouring showed the spots I missed in the greasing step so I went back and made sure a second time.
Flour, baking powder and the spices are sifted together. Two whole tablespoons of ginger plus cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom!
Well, that's pretty.
In a separate bowl, I whisked the eggs with the two types of sugar, the granulated having decided to make its appearance. See my cool mixing tool? That's called a Dutch whisk and it is wonderfully easy to use. It's heavier duty than a balloon whisk and it even scrapes down the sides like a spatula. 
Oil was added next. Start mixing slowly to incorporate it.
Then the molasses/Guinness was added.
Dry ingredients are mixed in, just till everything comes together.
The batter is rather thin and a bit foamy.
Into the prepared pan and a 350F oven for about 50 minutes.
The recipe said to cool for five minutes before turning it out. After five minutes it was still, of course, very hot. I decided to wait a bit before I tried loosening it with my offset palette knife.
The cake came out of the pan easily once it was loosened but it is a sticky cake and I lost a very thin layer on top.
More butter next time!
And there will definitely be a next time! This cake is moist, spicy, chewy deliciousness. Supposedly it tastes better the next day; it may not make it that long. I gave my friend Pam some and asked for her honest opinion of it; she gave it a "so good" rating. With like five "o"s in "so"! Eric and I also liked it a lot; the boys haven't had a chance to taste it yet...maybe they'll forget that it's there...

Here's the promised link:


Equipment recommendation:
Dutch Whisk
I got mine from King Arthur Flour but Amazon sells them, too!

Comments

  1. AmyBAugust 8, 2020 at 6:42 PM

    Interesting looking whisk! I’m thinking that this recipe is an example of cakes that form a bit of syrup at the bottom and therefore after it is baked, it needs to be turned out before it starts to get sticky. Looks delicious and I swear I can smell it from here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AKA JudyAugust 8, 2020 at 9:11 PM

      Thought about the amount of time left in the pan to cool and felt 5 minutes just wouldn't cut it. I really think it would have torn. Maybe find a happy medium! I loved the chewiness of it and it was so spicy! The Dutch whisk is awesome. I really love it.

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