It's young ginger season again at Swainway Urban Farm! We love growing this beautiful tropical plant and enjoying the mild, clean flavor of the young ginger.

Last year some time, my mom mentioned my Grandma Phyllis's ginger bread recipe. We didn't eat it much growing up so I adapted it with our fresh young ginger and whole ingredients to try. Here's a cake I can love!

I've made this dark, molasses-sweetened cake several times since, including at a recent Seasoned Farmhouse class. Everyone enjoyed the simple, rich flavors.

This gingerbread easy to make, requiring no stand mixer and few dishes. Freshly whipped cream lightens and smooths the rich flavors. Try this recipe for the holidays or any time you want a special autumnal treat.

gingerbreadcakerecipe

Grandma Phyllis's Gingerbread Cake

Makes: 8x8" cake, approximately 9 servings Time: 45 minutes

1/4 cup unsalted butter + extra for greasing pan 1/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup molasses 1 egg 1 small thumb young ginger, grated 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup hot water Whipped cream, sweetened and flavored to your liking, optional but highly recommended.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Butter an 8x8 glass baking pan and set aside. 3. Melt butter in small sauce pan, allow to cool slightly. 4. Transfer butter to a medium bowl. Add sugar, molasses, egg, and ginger and whisk together until smooth. 5. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Meanwhile, heat water. 6. Alternately add flour mixture and hot water to butter mixture, stirring until smooth after each addition. 7. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes clean. Allow to cool before serving with freshly whipped cream.

A few days ago, I shared some of our holiday crafts. I told you that my pastry-chef sister Heather baked gingerbread house pieces for Lil to decorate. Our kitchen remains sticky from the amount of frosting and candy used on that house. What I didn't reveal are the ridiculously good spoils from the house-making: Heather gave us all the trimmings from the gingerbread walls. Rough in shape, but generally slender, these perfectly crisp cookies beg to be dunked in coffee or tea. I eat a few pieces a day for a mildly sweet, spicy, crispy snack.

Sugar-coated house for kids and refined cookies for the adults - what a sweet holiday tradition!

Crisp Gingerbread

Yield: 1 # 12 oz (enough for a good-sized gingerbread house or approximately 4 dozen cookies)

4 oz (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter

4 oz (~ 1/2 cup) brown sugar

6 fl oz ( 1/2 cup) molasses

1 whole egg

12 oz (~2 2/3 cup) all purpose flour

1 teaspon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

parchment paper

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add molasses and egg, beat to combine well
Stir together remaining ingredients in a separate bowl
Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, beating until just blended (Dough will be very wet. If making for a gingerbread house, you may want to add extra flour to enable an easier roll out)
Gather into a disk, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour (for easier rolling, freeze dough and then roll out as soon as pulling from the freezer. It will still be a wet dough, but easier to roll out)
Roll out to ¼ inch, using as much flour as necessary for easier rolling
Cut with floured cutter, or bake for gingerbread house **see note
Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet at 350 until lightly browned and feels barely firm when touched

**To get clean lines for gingerbread houses:

First make a template out of cardboard or firm paper. After freezing and rolling, bake before cutting out the pieces (this will work well if you roll the dough between pieces of parchment. You can then just pick up the parchment paper, rather than trying to move the fragile dough).
Bake partially, until the gingerbread is golden, but still slightly soft to the tough. Pull from the oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes, or until you can cut the dough without tearing it. Place the template on top of the dough and deeply score the desired shape with a very sharp knife (I like using an exacto knife).
Let the dough cool entirely, then remove the excess gingerbread from the shape you cut out (wall, roof, etc.), you may have to cut the lines again, but it should be fairly easy to remove the excess gingerbread.
After removing any excess, return the shape to the oven to dry out one more time. You will want the gingerbread to be very firm before taking out of the oven.
Let cool entirely and then assemble the house with a very thick royal icing (1 egg white whipped with enough powdered sugar to make a thick spread; add a splash of vinegar, or lemon juice, to help it to harden easier). Decorate as desired.

PS. If you want to see some professional creations, I recommend the gingerbread house display at Easton Center on the second story of the mall near the AMC theater. Heather worked on The Pearl recreation with the Cameron Mitchell Catering group, pictured above.

PPS. I finally have a new laptop! After two months of scavenging time on shared computers, I have one of my own! It's taking a little time to set up all my preferences, but my first impressions of the Lenovo Twist are excellent.