Gingerbread Cake And All Things Christmas-sy!

I wish you a Merry Christmas,

I wish you a Merry Christmas,

I wish you a Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!

I haven’t been regular at blogging again, but Christmas is here and so am I! In the meanwhile, we relocated to a bigger apartment, once again survived the nightmare of packing and unpacking, enjoyed setting up the house and finally got a real cozy cane couch for myself! It’s one month since we moved in and it seems like, we are settled and so damn ready to enjoy the holidays! :P

Every year around this time, when I look back, I feel the same excitement I felt then as a kid; just that these days’ memories alone do wonders. That’s why Christmas to me is about all things wonderful!

Back during the convent schooldays we would look forward to the grand celebration; in many ways, Christmas crib competition used to be the icing on the cake and winning it meant everything and the preparation that went into it would put mid-term exams to shame. Then the exchange of greeting cards, and you bet, we reserved the best worded and the prettiest of all for that special buddy! Then the 10 days holiday with a promise to remain in touch with friends, which was soon forgotten with the kind of excitement awaiting back home.

Down South everyone celebrates Christmas, irrespective of religion or whatsoever differences one can think of. So even we would hang that little star outside and soon after we got back home, I and my sister would get busy adorning our Christmas tree; we used to have two tall ones resembling pine trees in our garden, which we would decorate with silver glitters and white waste paper strips; when the lights were gone that gave a good snowy effect (and we used to be damn good at it).

Christmas then also meant sleepover at one of my friends place; hers was the only place my parents would allow us to stay overnight. Since she used to be a Christian, we would get to enjoy all the Christmas goodies her mom would make; this is where we got introduced to French Toast! Her father owned a stationary/décor shop in Broadway and our Christmas/New Year shopping would always assuredly end there – a lot of stars, decors, greeting cards for cousins and of course, uncle used to give us good discount and freebies too! I am not in regular touch with her these days and yes, I feel terrible, but those memories are so pure and clear that I will take them to my grave! Finally, a short trip to my dad’s native for a few days of unlimited fun with our favourite cousins.

And cakes? Who can forget cakes on Christmas?

One after the other Christmas Fruit Cake would make its way, but sorry to say, I was never a fruit and nut cake fan; yes, even when it came with rum or whiskey! :P Even today, I haven’t been able to develop a taste for it. Instead we used to pack some real good marble cake from Cochin Bakery; the smell of butter and those perfect marble swirls!

But, ever since I started baking, 6 Christmas you can count, I wanted to try a Gingerbread Cake. No, I haven’t tasted it yet nor have I tried making it before, mainly because it was almost impossible to find a bottle of molasses until I shifted to Delhi (I tell you, I am missing this place already for all exotic stuff it allows me to cook with). Even then, I was turned down twice at two stores where I checked for it here and I myself had to put away that desire looking at the price; Rs.1000/- for a bottle of something I would make just once or twice a year was a little hard to settle with!

But then, lucky me; we have this Secret Santa fever going on at work and all what he gets to hear these days is about Santa. So every night when he is at the doorstep after work, he would ring the bell and say, “HO HO HO, Santa Claus is here” and hand over something as gift. Well, in most cases these aren’t gifts as such, but something that I may have asked him to buy on his way back home, but sometimes there would be real surprises, like, the bottle of Molasses (yaay!), the woollen slippers and two pairs of woollen socks (I misplaced mine while unpacking and Delhi is pretty cold these days).

So now that the ingredients are here, let’s get baking!

Recipe adapted from here and slightly modified to availability of ingredients.

Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake Recipe 

YOU NEED

All-purpose flour, 1-1/2 cups levelled

Baking soda, 1 tsp

Freshly ground ginger, 2 teaspoons or more for strong ginger flavour

Freshly ground cinnamon and cloves, 1 tsp (I ground about 1 inch cinnamon stick and 4-5 cloves together)

Salted butter, 60 grams, in room temperature and cut into cubes (original recipe called for unsalted butter and ½ tsp of salt, but as always I loved using salted butter whenever I bake)

Sugar, 2/3 cup (original recipe called for dark brown sugar and I was under the impression I had it, but I didn’t)

Grandma’s Original molasses, 2/3 cup (or any other mild-flavoured ones)

Boiling water, 2/3 cup

Egg, 1 large 

HOW TO: 

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking soda (and salt, if using unsalted butter).Using a fork mix in ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and molasses, and pour boiling water over it. Using a medium whisk, mix together the ingredients until butter is melted. Once the mix is lukewarm, whisk in the egg (remember, if you add egg when the mix is still hot, it will cook the egg).Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Line a baking pan with butter paper or flour the pan.

Now, combine the dry ingredients to the wet mix and once again, using the whisk, mix until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until the edges look dark and leave the sides, and a tool pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. (Original recipe had a baking time of 35 minutes, but I had to let it bake for another 5-10 minutes in my oven. So you may check at 35 minutes and as per requirement increase the time.)

Once done, remove to a wire rack and let it cool.

Cut into slices and I served it with a dollop of cream cheese frosting.

Notes: If you are a first time molasses user and are not a lover of jaggery-like flavour, chances are there that you may not enjoy the cake. The case was so with me but my husband who is a lover of all things earthy, loved and finished most of it!