For many of us, warm gingerbread slathered with whipped cream or teamed with sauteed apples or poached pears is comfort food at its best. Not to be confused with the dense, brittle cookies cut into fanciful shapes, cake-style gingerbread is dark and moist, generally baked in square pans and served warm.
For gingerbread fiends, the scent of warm cake redolent with ginger, molasses and cinnamon is one of life’s great pleasures; the taste divine.
Making gingerbread from scratch isn’t at all complicated, but to ensure the best results, use the freshest and best ingredients.
Fragrant, fresh ground ginger is very important. If you have a half-consumed bottle of ground ginger that has been hanging around since the Reagan administration, give it the boot. Ground ginger loses its gusto after nine months to a year. After all, it should still smell and taste like ginger.
As for molasses, it comes in three basic forms: dark molasses is darker, thicker and less sweet than the milder light molasses; blackstrap molasses is very thick, dark and on the bitter side. Blackstrap molasses is rarely used in baking.
The robust flavor of dark molasses makes it perfect for gingerbread; however, light and dark molasses are interchangeable in most recipes. Whether molasses is labeled “sulfured” or “unsulfured” has to do with how it is processed. In general, unsulfured molasses is lighter and has a cleaner sugar cane flavor.
Although the square configuration is most typical, gingerbread can assume a log shape when baked in a jellyroll pan. Rolled warm in a towel that has been dusted with confectioners’ sugar, the made-from-scratch gingerbread is allowed to cool completely. Unfurled, it can be filled with sauteed apples and whipped cream; rolled back into a jellyroll shape, the log can be refrigerated several hours.
But you can whip up a simpler version using a packaged mix and a simple cream-cheese frosting.
Gingerbread mix? Gingerbread aficionados might scoff, but for those of us in the kitchen trenches juggling Herculean schedules, it’s not bad. Really.
I add a pinch of ground ginger to the packaged mix and add pizazz with cooked apples and pears. The fruit seems to perfectly showcase the spices in the gingerbread. A wedge of gingerbread-from-the-box becomes downright elegant when served with a pear that has been poached in a sauce made from red wine and frozen raspberries. The warm gingerbread rests in a puddle of syrupy, claret-colored sauce. The poached pear, now crimson from its poaching, rests beside the cake. A spoonful of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh mint finish the dish. Palate nirvana.
Here’s the recipe for the made-from-scratch gingerbread log. The faster version, made using a packaged gingerbread mix, follows.
GINGERBREAD LOG WITH APPLES AND WHIPPED CREAM
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 15 to 17 minutes
Chilling time: Several hours
Yield: 10 servings
This log cake can be prepared 8 hours before serving and refrigerated. If dusting with confectioners’ sugar, do it no more than 1 hour before presenting it.
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup each: cornstarch, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon each, ground: nutmeg, cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup molasses, unsulfured preferred
Pinch cream of tartar
Confectioners’ sugar
Filling:
Sauteed apples, recipe follows, cooled
2 cups cold whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jellyroll pan (15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches) with butter or margarine. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the short sides; grease the paper.
2. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy and light yellow. Combine cornstarch, flour, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves in a separate medium bowl; stir to combine. Fold dry ingredients into egg yolk mixture. Add molasses and fold in until well blended.
3. Using a clean beater in a separate, clean bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar a little at a time, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. Fold 1/4 of egg white mixture into the batter, then gently fold in remaining egg white mixture.
4. Smooth mixture into prepared jellyroll pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle of oven until paper pulls away easily at the sides of the pan, 15 to 17 minutes. Dust a clean, smooth kitchen towel with confectioners’ sugar. Invert cake out on towel and remove parchment paper. Use towel to help roll into a log, rolling the towel up with the cake. Allow to cool 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the apple filling and cool it. Whip the cream with the 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form; then refrigerate. When the apples are cool, fold them with the chilled, whipped cream.
6. To assemble, unroll the cake and spread on apple-whipped cream mixture. Roll up cake from the long side, using the towel to aid support, but be careful not to roll it up too. Chill completely.
7. For an elegant presentation, arrange clean, non-poisonous leaves on top of gingerbread and a few surrounding the gingerbread (flat, smooth leaves are the best), with the top side of the leaves placed down. Place confectioners’ sugar in a small sieve and shake it over the cake and surrounding leaves. Carefully, using the tip of a small pointed knife to help you lift one edge, remove the leaves. Garnish with clean, non-poisonous leaves and edible flowers, if desired.
Sauteed apples: Peel, core and dice 2 Pippin or Granny Smith apples. Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine in a large skillet. Place diced apples and 3 tablespoons sugar in skillet and cook over medium-high heat until sugar starts to caramelize on the edge of pan. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, about 3 minutes. If desired, add 2 tablespoons of Calvados (apple brandy) during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat and cool completely.
EASY GINGERBREAD LOG WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 15 to 17 minutes
Chilling time: Several hours
Yield: 10 servings
This cake can be prepared 2 days in advance of serving and stored covered in the refrigerator.
1 box (14 1/2 ounces) gingerbread cake and cookie mix
Pinch of ground ginger
1 cup lukewarm water
2 eggs, separated
Pinch salt or cream of tartar
Confectioners’ sugar, about 1/4 cup
Cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
Sauteed apples, optional, see recipe
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jellyroll pan (15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches) with butter or margarine. Line with parchment paper. Grease paper.
2. Place gingerbread mix and ground ginger in a large bowl. Mix until well blended. Add egg yolks and water; beat until well blended; set aside.
3. Beat egg whites until foamy in a separate clean, large bowl of an electric mixer. Add a pinch of salt or cream of tartar; beat on high speed until stiff and glossy. Fold egg whites into batter mixture. Pour into prepared pan and smooth with a rubber spatula.
4. Bake until cake feels springy to the touch, 15 to 17 minutes. While cake is in the oven, dust a clean kitchen towel with confectioners’ sugar. Invert cooked gingerbread sheet onto sugared towel. Peel away parchment paper and discard.
5. Starting with the long side, use the towel to help roll into a log, rolling the towel up with the cake. Allow to cool 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile prepare the cream cheese frosting and the sauteed apples.
7. To assemble, unroll the cake and spread on cream cheese frosting. Roll up cake from the long side, using the towel to aid support, but be careful not to roll it up too. The cake will probably crackle and look like bark. Chill completely.
8. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and edible, pesticide-free flowers, such as pansies. Serve chilled. If desired, accompany with sauteed apples.
Cream cheese frosting: Combine 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese (softened) and 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter (softened) in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; process until smooth. If you don’t have a processor, use an electric mixer.
