DAMP GINGERBREAD

from Laurie Colwin

  1. Cream one stick of sweet butter with 1/2 cup of light or dark brown sugar. Beat until fluffy and add 1/2 cup of molasses.
  2. Beat in 2 eggs.
  3. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and one very generous tablespoon of ground ginger (this can be adjusted to taste, but I like it very gingery). Add one teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice.
  4. Add two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Then add 1/2 cup of buttermilk (or milk with a little yogurt beaten into it) and turn batter into a buttered tin.
  5. Bake at 350 for between twenty and thirty minutes (check after twenty minutes have passed), or until a piece of spaghetti poked into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
Makes one 9-inch cake.

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