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Once upon a time, we ate some utterly delicious gingerbread at Al Forno. It was so good! we exclaimed. So damp and rich a cake.1 We could eat it every day. Oh, alas that we would not be able to reproduce it. We had gingerbread recipes, yes, but none so tasty. And we had an Al Forno cookbooks, sure, but nary a gingerbread recipe nestled in its pages. Oh well, we said, we will try whatever recipe is collected in Baking With Julia, because it has not let us down yet. It will not be the same, but it is sure to be good (though inferior).
But oh! joy! It was the very cake, recipe provided by Johanne Killeen herself. Because we do not have miniature cake pans, I baked it in an array of ramekins, which now demand to be washed (they tend not to come quite all the way clean in the dishwasher). And our oven is terrible and temperamental, so the cakes took longer to bake than advertised. But boy, are they good. So, so, so very good: springy, spicy, dark, and moist. Because I think you ought to go and buy the book, I will not recount the recipe here, but I will tell you that it contains as much molasses as it does flour, and that it contains not only powdered ginger and minced fresh ginger but also cocoa, freshly ground black pepper, and instant espresso powder. Because PBS is so spiffy, in fact, you can go see the original video segment online at their Julia Child: Lessons With Master Chefs site. Unbelievable riches!
It can also be baked as a single cake, which I may try next time for simplicity's sake, though the little cakelets are awfully cute, and a more reasonable size for a single serving than the rather giant baby babycakes they serve at the restaurant.
1 From Peter Pan.
Posted by redfox at January 08, 2003 12:11 AM (etcetera)all breads | breakfast | dinner reports | drink | eating out | essays | etcetera | lunch | news | recipes | salads | snacks | soups | sweets | tips | travel | vegetables | weekly meals |
