photos courtesy Wikipedia
Here is some great info on Ginger Root – aka Zingiber officinale
At this time of year I need a fresh inspiration. I’m over the winter food thing and have started dreaming of barbecues outside – you know, the grilled chicken, potato salad and fresh and tasty tomatoes???? Peach pies! I’m sorry I have skipped over several months of the year, but, well, I am SO over Winter!
I have spent the last several days in fits and starts at my desk, just yearning for some true feeling behind what I am writing about – the “drafts” file, piling up fast.
I do love ginger and find it an intriguing ingredient. I have been thinking about Ginger a lot lately….. Mostly I love it in the baking sphere – with its earthy warming effect when ground and incorporated into cakes and cookies. Candied Ginger and fresh ginger root are also a common ingredient in my baking. I love the whole idea of candied ginger for some unknown reason and fresh ginger root is, well, just such an unusual kind of thing. I know that sounds silly, but I just love bringing it home and looking at it until the spirit moves me. Using it in the savory kitchen is intriguing as well and I am in search of some great new recipes for this…..
Perhaps David Lebovitz and Ina Garten come to mind at first with two of my very favorite recipes for baking with ginger:
David Lebovitz’s Ginger Cake
Ina Garten’s triple ginger cookies – on the docket and always wonderful!
Today I am going to visit a friend in the City, see her new apartment and have lunch. After beginning the dreaming process about ginger a little earlier, I decided to bring her a cake as a housewarming gift. What would you rather have, flowers, a trinket or a cake? Well, I decided on the cake. I have been wanting to make the David Lebovitz Ginger cake for awhile now and so I settled on that. This is an absolutely heavenly smelling cake – one that inspires people out of bed, into the kitchen and exclaiming, “What ARE you making??? I want some!” (via Christin this am).
In my kitchen today I did have a decent size piece of fresh ginger – this cake calls for 4 oz of fresh ginger, minced. Well, I weighed mine out and I was short and so……. hmmmm, what could I do. Here is what I wound up with:
Great Loft on this cake!
FRESH GINGER CAKE – adapted from David Lebovitz:
2.75 oz fresh ginger – weighed before mincing in the food processor
1 cup mild molasses
1 cup sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup water
2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs at room temperature
zest of one large navel orange
Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9×3″ springform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Peel, slice and mince the fresh ginger in the food processor.
In a large bowl, whisk together the molasses, oil and sugar until fully blended.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and black pepper.
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan and stir in the baking soda. Mix this into the molasses mixture until blended.
Add the orange zest into the dry ingredients and whisk to mix. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture until fully incorporated.
Add the 2 eggs into the batter and blend well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the center springs back when touched gently. Watch edges of cake to make sure they do not burn.
Remove cake from the oven and cook in pan for 30 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and gently remove the outer ring. Flip the cake onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment and flip back to right-side-up on another cooling rack. Cool cake completely.
Serve with whipped cream, a scoop of good vanilla ice cream or my Heavenly Mascarpone Cream. This recipe comes from my Chocolate Orange Pancakes with Heavenly Mascarpone Cream. Hope you try and enjoy!
HEAVENLY MASCARPONE CREAM:
1 8 oz container mascarpone cream at room temperature
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tblsp honey
1 tbslp grand marnier
1 tsp orange zest
In a medium bowl, whisk the mascarpone until smooth. Add the heavy cream and whisk again until smooth. Add the grand marnier, honey and orange zest and whisk again until fully blended. Use a scant dollop of this on top of the cake as it is very rich!
And, here, some self-sustaining treats – will work VERY hard to get over the next few weeks to get to Spring!!!!!!!!
Back to Ginger for a moment – I will be working on some savory recipes over the next few days which incorporate fresh ginger. Will keep you posted!