American Cuisine 03: Old Fashioned Gingerbread

Here's a recipe for the traditional American version of pain d'épices. This is an easy cake to make and the main difference in this version is the use of molasses (la mélasse) instead of honey. This product can be found in organic and health food stores in France. Molasses is a thick syrup that is the by-product of processing sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar.

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

(taken from allrecipes.com)

100 g white sugar 115 g butter 1 egg 235 ml molasses 310 g all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 235 ml hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour a 9 inch (=22.9cm) square pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.