Gingerbread and Lemon Sauce

 

Winter is a great time for warming spice-rich foods and also for citrus. This dessert, which made a great birthday cake for a friend, has both of those, plus molasses. I guess some folks don't like molasses - it does have an assertive flavor - but everyone at the table were fans, so the plates of gingerbread squares topped with glistening lemon sauce were enjoyed by all.

If you have a favorite gingerbread recipe, feel free to use it instead of this one, but do make the lemon sauce. It really makes the dish! Somehow the spiciness of the gingerbread is matched well with the zestiness of the lemon in the sauce, each enhancing the other. It doesn't hurt that it's an old family favorite sauce, plus it's easy to make. I made mine the day before and re-heated it at dessert time. I made the cake the same day, but allowed time for it to cool.

For serving you can either place the squares of gingerbread on a dessert plate or in a shallow cereal size bowl. Don't forget the lemon sauce!

Spicy Gingerbread
Based on a recipe from Williams-Sonoma Muffins

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (7 ½ oz/235 g)
½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger 
1 ¼ teaspoons grounds cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon stem ginger, syrup drained, finely minced
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 oz/125 g)
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar, light or dark (3 ½ oz/105 g)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses, light or dark (4 oz/125 g)
2/3 cup buttermilk (5 fl oz/160 ml)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch (20 or 23 cm) square baking pan or dish. If using a glass baking dish, use 325 degrees F (165 C) for oven temperature.

On a sheet of waxed paper, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients in 3 increments, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat well until fluffy and smooth yet thick.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake until the top is dry to the touch and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 35-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Serve the gingerbread warm or at room temperature, cut into squares. Can be garnished with Nancy's lemon sauce (recipe follows) or lemon curd or whipped cream.

For a treat, serve with Nancy's Lemon Sauce.
Nancy’s Lemon Sauce

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (I used Meyer, but any lemon juice and zest is fine.
Zest from 1 lemon

In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch thoroughly. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil at full boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and stir until well blended. Serve warm. If using on top of the gingerbread, use a generous amount, perhaps 2-3 tablespoons per serving, or more.

2009 Was A Very Good Year

If the number of posts is any indication, 2009 was wonderful for blogging. It was also the year of bread, so much so that in March I created a new blog Bread Baker's Dog, to take up some of the extra bread recipes I wanted to blog about...why?...because I wanted Feeding My Enthusiasms to reflect ALL my enthusiasms, not just my passion for bread baking. 

Many of my recipes this year came from cookbooks, often tweaked a bit as I like to do. Do you have favorite cookbooks or do most (or all) of your recipes come from the internet...or hand written recipes from a recipe box...or a combination?

Another great thing about 2009 was that my loved ones realized that cooking and baking were taking a more prominent place in my life, so they gifted me with culinary laurel leaf wreaths, shears to chop herbs, foldable colander,  a good scale, a digital thermometer and more.

A lot of thought goes into each post and then more time writing and editing photographs and putting it all together, then proofing (usually but not always) the post before posting. Dishes that we have as part of our normal life get posted once then are not posted later, so what you see are in some ways extra things that I want to make. Every now and then I will repeat something, but I try to keep it fresh and new.

One of the Christmas cookies that we have every year has been posted a number of time or has been linked to. It is Sweetie's favorite because of all the molasses. It's the Swedish Ginger Cookie recipe and I love it, too because it's a roll-out and cut-out cookie that is easy to roll, keeps it's shape when baked, and is delicious. I usually decorate the cookies with white Royal Icing, which contrasts nicely with the brown cookie, and maybe a few cinnamon red hots for a pop of color.

In 2009, towards the end of the year, I did my first post with suggestions for Thanksgiving, including links. I had a number of positive comments, plus a comment from No Handle on making a brined turkey with great gravy. Since it has been just a bit over a year since he died, it was a jolt to read the comment...I had forgotten that he had written. Rest in peace, Brother No Handle.

The fall also brought a few good recipes for squash including a fairy cake that is really a kind of pumpkin muffin, a two squash soup, and pumpkin pie made with sugar pie pumpkins. Truly there is something special about using locally grown fresh squash to make these fall treats.

October included two French treats that I have made again over the years...macarons and French yogurt cake. Both are fairly simple, but the results are wonderful. If you get a chance, follow the links and try them yourself.

Of course October is also my blog birthday. Here is what I wrote for the third birthday:

"One of the best things lately to start in the fall is this blog. Three years ago I barely knew what a blog was and there were far fewer food blogs.

I checked back to the brave folks who were the first few to comment here. The first four or five no longer are blogging. I guess it didn't match their needs in the same way that it matched mine:

I love the fact that I have 'met' people from all over the world through blogging...and that we are mostly the same...food obsessed :)

I love that blogging brings out my creative side. I get to play with food. I borrow lots and lots of cookbooks from the library and sometimes even bring the librarians samples of things I've baked to enjoy, especially of the sweets. I love that my photography has improved. I love that I have come under the sway of the magic of bread baking, seduced by all things baking, inspired by combinations of flour and butter and sugar and seeds and grains. Most of all I have been amazed that I can sit down at the computer, find words to fill the Blogger template time after time, and create something that other people actually read and look at and are occasionally inspired by.

As Sweetie would say (in jest), "Not bad...for a girl." He is actually my biggest fan and promoter, telling perfect strangers that they have to go visit my blog. Sometimes they even accept the URL from him.

I love hitting the Publish Post button and I especially enjoy the comments...and wish that there were more. You CAN comment anonamously as Natasha did recently. If you give me hints and I already know you I can even figure out who you are...a sort of puzzle. However, even if you never comment, I do hope you will continue to visit now and then. The place to click on to comment is usually at the bottom of the post. Try it...you might enjoy it.

Believe it or not, I don't have a clue how many people actually visit this blog. I could find out easily, but I guess I'm not really interested. Recently one of my sisters assured me that many family members stop by and read to see what I am up to. I suspect that there are a few folks beyond immediate family...and I welcome you all!

This is the 360th post. I think that comes out to an average of something like a post every third day."

One of the advantages of having this be a blog that includes a few things other than food is that I can get creative. In late September one post included a Land of St. Honore' story, a recipe for vol au vents as part of a Daring Baker challenge, and a photo and explanation of a set of model World War II ships that Sweetie made and created a display case for, too. My Mom had asked for a photo (we talked every week on the phone on Saturdays) and I knew that she would be looking for the St. Honore' story, so I included the photo. I suspect that I might have had more followers if I had stuck strictly to baking or baking sweets, but what fun is that?

September also brought the first Index for the blog. Since there were at least 300 recipes by now, that was a good thing. Now there are well over a thousand recipes and a multi-page Index. I still need to migrate the old index recipes into the new one, but maybe that will happen in January when the weather is usually rainy and it's a good time to hunker down inside.

Although I usually try to write out recipes so they are like those in cookbooks, sometimes I just write them out as I would if I were giving you a recipe on a piece of scratch paper...in narrative form. A good example (and a delicious recipe) is for bruchetta, a great recipe for harvest time.

This is the year that I began baking with the Bread Baking Babes, my longest running blog group. I still bake bread with them and post it on or after the 16th of the month. First I baked as a Buddy and eventually was invited to join. The group kept the number at 12, so I had to wait until there was an opening. These days we hardly ever get Buddies and our numbers have been reduced, but the challenges are still fun and educational and the results are usually delicious! The first bread was in February for the Babes first anniversary. It was 5-Grain Bread with Walnuts by Carol Field, an artisan loaf (or two) that was really hearty and delicious. 

Another fun, new thing this year was that I did a journal of our first trip to Ireland, with most of the posts being in June even though the trip was in May. These included little maps to show where we were. There are also lots and lots of photos and usually a recipe at the end, often not really related to the Ireland story. Here is the first one (and it has a recipe for Irish Brown Bread) that is set up as a real journal, although there were a few I wrote while there that can be found in late May...you can follow the rest on your own.

Sometimes there is a recipe that becomes a favorite with you, dear readers. One of these is Spinach Rice Casserole from the Moosewood cookbook of 1977, so it really is an oldie but goodie. It can be a main dish since it has milk, eggs and cheese along with brown or wild rice and spinach, but it can also be a great side dish if you have someone in your family, like I do, who really likes some meat with their meal.

Another milestone from 2009 is one that from 2020 looks almost quaint. In January Barack Obama became our President and many were very hopeful that we had turned a corner in our nation and could put racism behind us. We celebrated at my work and arrived early enough to watch the inauguration on TV...and I baked and brought bagels for part of the celebration. They are a lot of work, but so delicious. As it turned out, racism just went underground and grew in the dark. People of color knew that the election had not changed much for them, but it took the rest of us a long time to realize that so much of it was systemic that it still blights our nation. That needs to change.

I'm going to end with a pair of recipes that are perfect for this time of year. I just picked the first two Meyer lemons from the shrub by the barn. I have quite a few this year, so look for more lemon recipes in the next few months. The one is a link to a post that has both gingerbread and my Mom's clear Lemon Sauce. They go really well together!

If you have read this far, you are a trooper! 2009 had 135 posts, most of them with recipes, so feel free to wander around and discover the ones I didn't include in this round-up.

Pears and Gingerbread

On the face of it, pears and gingerbread is an odd combination. Pears are fresh, light, juicy with a distinctive taste, but a mild one. Gingerbread, on the other hand, is best when it's assertive, bold and full of strong ginger flavor. You would think that the gingerbread would overpower the pear.

But, in this recipe at least, it doesn't. The slices of pear are visually lovely, sitting pale and perfect on top of the dark gingerbread. They are a fine counterpoint and hold their own in the flavor department if the pears are ripe and juicy. I was lucky enough to be given some local pears a few weeks ago. I made the cake when they had ripened to perfection. The gingerbread has a lot of molasses and both fresh and ground ginger. I also goofed and left out the vegetable oil, but Sweetie and I agreed that it really didn't need the additional fat.

Although the recipe was for one cake baked in a large skillet, I made two small cakes in springform pans, plus a slightly larger cake in a 6-inch skillet. That way I was able to give the two small cakes to neighbors, including the neighbor who gave us the pears. A nice full circle! I'm going to give you the recipe for the single cake in the large skillet.

This is a really, really delicious cake, moist, strongly flavored with ginger and molasses and a hint of lemon. I served Sweetie his first piece when it was still warm. I added more pear slices to the plate and a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream. He was delighted!

Pear Gingerbread Cake for a 10.5-inch skillet
by Lodge (the cast iron people)

3 medium-sized firm, ripe pears, cored, peeled and sliced into eighths 
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup vegetable oil (optional)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (peel first)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground loves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat. When butter has fully melted, turn skillet to coat the sides up to the rim. Sprinkle brown sugar over the surface. Wait 3-4 minutes until sugar has partially melted, then stir with a silicon spatula to combine the butter and partially melted brown sugar. Spread evenly over the pan bottom. Arrange sliced pears on top of the butter/sugar mixture in a nice pattern. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine  boiling water and molasses, stirring until well blended. Add oil (if using), ginger, ground ginger, and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, combing flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Mix half the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture, then add the remaining dry ingredients and stir until completely combined.

Carefully pour or scoop the batter over the pears, being careful not to dislodge the pattern. If needed, use and offset spatula to smooth the batter over the fruit to the edges of the pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes, or until a tester in the middle of the cake comes out clean (test at 25 minutes).

Let the cake sit on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then loosen the cake by running a knife around the edge of the skillet. Place a large plate or serving platter over the pan and, using potholders, carefully invert the skillet so that the cake falls onto the plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mellow Gingerbread For Cold Weather

We have been having winter weather. Compared to the below zero temperatures being experienced elsewhere, our 23 degrees is warm, but here in California it is perceived as being cold. Lots of frost in the morning has really gotten me in the Christmas spirit, too. I've been baking Christmas cookies, but also this delicious gingerbread, one of the choices for the Cake Slice Bakers for December.

This is a nice, moist cake and it sits pretty high in the pan. We are baking from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey. The photo with this recipe showed an awesome lace on top, made with royal icing. It was far too time consuming for this time of year. Besides, I like to serve my gingerbread with Mom's lemon sauce. There is just something great about lemon and gingerbread. Since this gingerbread has lemon zest in it, the combination is perfect.

I do prefer my gingerbread a bit darker, so next time I would probably use more molasses. I didn't use blackstrap molasses, just dark molasses, so that might have made it darker. I think I would also bake it in two eight-inch cake pans so that it was a thinner cake. Just a personal preference, since this really was fine just the way it was, and with a nice, mellow ginger flavor. I did change it a bit to make it non-dairy, but kept the rest of the ingredients as written...well, I used less lemon zest since I needed some for my lemon sauce. I also used the Dorie Greenspan technique of rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar instead of stirring it in at the end.

Be sure to check out what the other Cake Slice Bakers have made this month. Our choices included Coffee and Walnut Cake, P.A. Young's Torta, Caribbean Coconut and Rum Cake and my Gingerbread!

Gingerbread

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) non-dairy margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 2/3 cups soy creamer
3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons molasses
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease and line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper.

Combine the sugar and the lemon zest with your fingers. The lemon oils will mix with the sugar.

Cream the margarine and sugar mixture together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time.

Add the sifted flour, baking soda, salt and spices and mix until well combined.

Warm the soy milk slightly in a pan on low heat and add the dark corn syrup and the molasses, mix, then pour into the batter. Mix just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared square cake pan and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out onto a wire rack. Strip off the parchment paper and return to top side up.

Slice once cool. Serve with warm lemon sauce for a taste treat!

Mom's Lemon Sauce

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (I used Meyer, but any lemon juice and zest is fine.
Zest from 1 lemon

In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch thoroughly. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil at full boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and stir until well blended.

An InLinkz Link-up

Three Kinds of Ginger

Although I've always loved gingerbread, I was an adult before I discovered the joys of fresh ginger and candied ginger. Of late I've been increasing the amount of ginger in my diet since it is not only an effective anti-inflammatory, but it tastes wonderful. Fresh ginger does have some natural heat to it, but I find that I enjoy that much more than the heat from, say, hot peppers.

One way to enjoy three kinds of ginger; fresh, candied and ground dried ginger; is by making gingerbread cake. I recently tried a new recipe that uses all three and it works really well in a Bundt cake pan. It's called the Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread and it's a recipe from Epicurious. I think I decided to try it because the first ingredient is one cup of stout (like Guinness). It also has lots of spices, not just ginger. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom are also used. The strong flavor of molasses comes from molasses itself, but also from dark brown sugar. The only think it was lacking was the candied ginger, so I chopped up a tablespoon of that and added it anyway. It tended to go to the bottom of the pan, which became the top of the cake. I found that out because it got in the way of slicing the beginning of some slices, but I still think it adds a necessary element to the cake.

This makes a full Bundt cake, so make sure that your pan is a full sized one, which I think is a ten-cup capacity or larger one. I baked mine in a pan that looked like a circle of Christmas trees. For decoration I sifted on just a little powdered sugar, so they looked like snowy trees. Very pretty and perfect for a party, or your own holiday table.

This gingerbread is moist, spicy, mouthwatering (perhaps due to the wonderful fragrance of the stout and all those spices), with a fine crumb and sturdy form. Everyone who tried it was delighted, especially those who added a dollop of whipped cream to their serving.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see what I made for the Cake Slice Bakers!

Adapted from
Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread
from Epicurious

1 C stout (like Guinness which is what I used)

1 C dark molasses

1/2 t baking soda

2 C all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 T ground ginger

1 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t ground cloves

1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg

pinch ground cardamom

1 T freshly grated fresh, peeled ginger root
1 T finely diced moist candied ginger

3 large eggs

1 C packed dark brown sugar

1 C granulated sugar

3/4 C vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 10-inch (10-12 cups) Bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars and fresh ginger. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

Pour batter into Bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners' sugar, or serve with whipped cream.

As a reward for reading to the end, here is a recent shot of the sunset in our wintery sky. We have been having rain on and off, which is such a blessing!, so there are often clouds in the sky at sunset. Winter sunsets seem to have a wonderful fragile quality to them that I love.

A Late Taste of Terroir - Gingerbread & Lemon Sauce

Couldn’t let January end without one more recipe.

I baked this to take to a friend recovering from surgery. Served with the Lemon Sauce recipe from my Mom, it is pure comfort food.

The problem was that it smelled so good that Sweetie and I had to have a piece. That was so successful that we shared one more piece. It’s a wonder that any of the gingerbread made it to my friend’s house. I used 2% milk that I soured with some apple cider vinegar for that batch, but then decided to make another batch for the weekend using buttermilk as in the original recipe. Both work just fine. I also added some minced candied ginger for little zaps of pure ginger flavor here and there and took out the vanilla extract. With all of these heavy duty spices, the poor vanilla just gets lost.

Try this warm with warm lemon sauce. You can also make it as orange or vanilla sauce, but I think lemon is the perfect match for the gingerbread.

It is a couple of days late for the event, but the lemon sauce qualifies this post for A Taste of Terroir 2009 event that Anna of Anna’s Cool Finds is doing to highlight local and regional flavors. So sorry I’m too late, Anna.

I made my sauce with the lovely Meyer lemon from a friend’s tree in Healdsburg on the Russian River. It has a milder flavor than Eureka lemons (the ones you usually find in the grocery store) and is slightly less acidic, too. It makes a truly awesome Lemon Sauce.

Doesn't this look yummy?

Spicy Gingerbread
Based on a recipe from Williams-Sonoma Muffins

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (7 ½ oz/235 g)
½ teaspoon bakind soda (bicarbonate of soda)
¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger (freshly ground is recommended)
1 ¼ teaspoons grounds cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon candied ginger, finely minced
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 oz/125 g)
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar, light or dark (3 ½ oz/105 g)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses, light or dark (4 oz/125 g)
2/3 cup buttermilk (5 fl oz/160 ml)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch (20 or 23 cm) square baking pan or dish. If using a glass baking dish, use 325 degrees F (165 C) for oven temperature.

On a sheet of waxed paper, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cloves.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients in 2 increments, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Beat well until fluffy and smooth yet thick.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake until the top is dry to the touch and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 35-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes.

Serve the gingerbread warm or at room temperature, cut into squares. Can be garnished with whipped cream or lemon sauce or lemon curd.

To make as small cakes, spoon the batter into the cups (or used greased muffin tins) to 2/3 full. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the toothpick test (above) works. Let cool briefly, then turn out onto a rack to cool. (I flipped mine on a plate so that the top was up.) Once cool, cut into squares.

For a treat, serve with Lemon Sauce.
Nancy’s Lemon Sauce

½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (I used Meyer, but any lemon juice and zest is fine.
Zest from 1 lemon

In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch thoroughly. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil at full boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and stir until well blended.

Variations: Vanilla Sauce – use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in place of lemon juice and zest.
Orange Sauce – Use 1 cup orange juice in place of the water. Add zest of 1 orange in place of lemon zest. Omit lemon juice.

Spicy Gingerbread Makin' Like a Doughnut

When Peabody and Helen announced a February event, It's Time To Make the Doughnuts, it was so tempting to think that I could do that...make doughnuts that is. But the truth is that I've never been successful making them, at least not by frying. In fact, I have strong anti-fry feelings which I blame on the fried oysters.

Well, I like to eat...make that love to eat fried oysters. The reason I don't like the frying thing so much has to do with childhood. A lot of fears and dislikes can be traced back to when we were young, I guess. Anyway...fried oysters...imagine having to dredge in seasoned flour, dredge in beaten egg, dredge in breadcrumbs, and fry enough oysters to feed a family of ten. The dredging components would mix and cake up on my fingers and it was a challenge to keep the oil at the right temperature for so many batches. To this day I dislike the smell of oil being used to fry things. Since my whole house smells that way at the moment, you can just imagine my love and respect for "Gracie" and Tartlette.

Enough about oysters. Today it's doughnuts. In this case, spicy Gingerbread Doughnuts with Lemon Curd filling. If you are going to go whole hog and fry, then make it something you don't find in every doughnut shop (the proper place to find doughnuts) and something that Sweetie likes, too.

The recipe is a much varied variation of Peabody's Vermont Apple Cider Doughnuts. The Lemon Curd (recipe found here) was brushed on the tops while the doughnuts were still warm, then some more was piped into the middle with a plain tip on a pastry bag and more with a star tip piped on top.

The results were good for the first two. After that the oil was too hot, then not hot enough, then I gave up. But those two were yummy! The spicy gingerbread flavor goes really well with the creamy, tangy lemon curd. The texture is soft and tender cake doughnut. If you have mastered hot oil, as I obviously have not (see the much-too-dark doughnut in the photo below?), do consider making these for your Sweetie... or just for yourself.

Spicy Gingerbread Doughnuts with Lemon Curd

based on rec.food.recipes/Julia Collette/2001 and

Vermont Apple Cider Doughnuts/Peabody

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature

1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 tablespoon molasses

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat together brown sugar and butter until creamy. Add the egg and mix to combine. Add the buttermilk and mix to combine. Mixture may be curdled looking...that's OK. Set aside.

Begin heating vegetable oil (I used a mix of canola and corn oils) in a deep, heavy pot to about 3 inches deep. Heat to 375 degrees F.

On a sheet of waxed paper, stir together the flour, soda, salt, and spices. Add to liquid mixture and mix just enough to combine. Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and pat to 1/4 inch. Fold half of dough over the other half and pat lightly. Cut with 2 1/2 to 3 inch round cutter. Reroll and cut scraps.

When oil reaches 375 degrees F., fry several doughnuts at a time, turning once when the edges begin to darken, about 2 minutes. Cook about 2 more minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon. Try to keep the oil at 375 degrees as you fry.

While hot, brush the tops with some of the lemon curd.

When the doughnuts are cooled enough to handle, poke a very small slit in the side about half way between the top and bottom. Pipe some lemon curd into the slit using a piping bag and plain small tip. When all the doughnuts are filled, use a small star tip to pipe circles or spirals of lemon curd on top.

Serve slightly warm or cooled. These didn't last long enough to know how they will store. This recipe makes about 8, but you can easily double the recipe for more.