G is for Gingerbread

A spooky looking evening at the lake with wispy clouds trying to cover the moon made me think of foreshadowing with the dreaded end of daylight savings time soon upon us.

The Autumn Villain

The villain crept by on the slant
towards the Southwest
and the sunset
With his shadow lengthening and following behind him

The brim of the enormous black hat he wore was pulled down
over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth
As if predicting
Days to come when he would have to travel
in almost total shadows
To make up for all his glaring summertime excesses
--Penance for both his suns and his sins

Big brim! It sloped down and even scraped the ground
And when the wind came, draped over the tops of trees

And an investigator
Trying to peer into his eyes
could see only falling leaves....

by Michael Bendikt (poet)

Need A Friday Day Brightener Treat? Sink Your Teeth Into...G is for Gingerbread
(photo taken in kindergarten classroom) 

Guinness Stout Gingerbread Cake

Cook's notes:
Gingerbread is said to have been invented by the Greeks around 2800 B.C. Guinness Gingerbread Stout Cake is flavorful and moist. It is really the perfect dessert for fall and winter. This recipe is versatile.  Although the recipe calls for lemon zest, orange zest works too for the glaze but then substitute orange juice for lemon juice.  Toasted nuts, minced fresh ginger, or even crystallized ginger could be added. For the brave at heart a little ground black or red pepper could be added for heat. Gingerbread Stout Cake stands on its own but take it up a notch and frost with a lemon glaze. Of course a small scoop of ice cream elevates the cake even more.

The most unusual thing about this recipe is that stout is substituted for the water or coffee used in most gingerbread recipes. I find it adds a lot of richness and underscores the spices. Since the cake is made with oil, it will stay moist for several days. Dress it up or simply enjoy it on its own, with coffee, tea, or leftover beer from the recipe :)
One word of caution-Do not be alarmed when baking soda is added to beer and molasses mixture. It foams up just like the science volcano projects we all once helped children make for school.
Cake Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Guinness Stout or dark beer 
• 3/4 cup mild flavored (light )molasses 
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 
• 2 cups of flour 
• 2 tsp. ground ginger 
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1 tsp. Saigon cinnamon 
• Dash of ground cloves and cardamom 
• 1 tsp.apple pie spice 
• 3 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup each white sugar and brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil 
• Optional: adding 1 TB finely minced crystallized ginger 

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1-2 TB. lemon zest 
• 3 TB. fresh lemon juice 
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar 

Cake Directions:

• In a saucepan whisk together stout and molasses. Bring to a boil over a medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Set aside to cool. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking dish. 
• Whisk together flour, spices and baking powder. 
• In a large bowl whisk egg, sugars and oil to blend. 
• Add in stout mixture and mix all ingredients together with a whisk. 
• Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 
• Cool cake 8 minutes and then pierce top of gingerbread liberally with a wooden skewer and pour glaze evenly over the top. 

Glaze Directions:

• Mix lemon zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar with a whisk. Bend until smooth.