Gingerbread Bundt Cake

 

This cake was a surprise hit on the dessert table on Christmas Day.  If you love gingerbread you will enjoy this Bundt cake that has all the flavors of gingerbread men in a light fluffy bundt cake form.  This is a really easy recipe, the most time consuming chore is mincing up candied ginger until you get 3/4 cup.

As with all bundt pans, including the non-stick variety you really need to grease and flour the pan well so the cake releases easily when inverted on a cake plate or platter.  I use H*E*B brand baking spray that really gets into evert nook and cranny so I get a good clean release.  Look for similar in your favorite groc in the baking aisle. 

Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Ingredients

• ·         ½ C butter, room temperature
• ·         4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• ·         1 ½ C packed light brown sugar
• ·         2 large eggs, room temperature
• ·         1 t vanilla extract
• ·         ½ C Molasses
• ·         3 t ground ginger
• ·         2 t ground cinnamon
• ·         ½ t fresh ground nutmeg
• ·         1 t baking powder
• ·         ½ t baking soda
• ·         1 C milk
• ·         ¾ C minced candied ginger
• ·         Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• ·         2 C powdered sugar

 Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

In a small bowl add flour, spices, baking powder and baking soda, whisk lightly to combine.  Set aside.

In stand mixer add butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, molasses and vanilla extract.  Beat on medium speed and cream until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated.

To the creamed mixture turn mixer to low and add in small batches add milk and flour mixture alternatively until just combined. Do not over mix.  Fold in ½ cup of minced candied ginger.

Place prepared bundt pan on baking sheet. Spoon in batter.  Run a spatula through the batter to remove any air pockets.  Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Transfer to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.  Invert it on cake plate and cool completely to room temperature.

In a small mixing bowl add powdered sugar, lemon zest and ½ the lemon juice.  IF it’s too thick add remaining lemon juice and stir until you have a thick yet pourable glaze Drizzle glaze over the cake and add remaining minced candied ginger to the glaze as garnish.

Ginger Spiced Spritz

This cookie too a bit of work to get it right.  Cloves were the culprits.  A little goes a long, LONG way and the first batch thats all you tasted.  Got it right now and this is a righteous little cookie that packs a punch of flavor.

I like to take half the cookie batter and color it.  It adds to the festive look of your cookie plate by not having them all one color.  Call me funny, but presentation is everything.

Ginger Spice Spritz

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 2 t ground ginger
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground cloves
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1 c butter
• 3/4 c packed brown sugar
• 1 t orange extract'
• decorative colored sugar sprinkles
• food coloring

Cream together brown sugar, room temp butter, salt and orange extract until fluffy.

Combine flour and spices.  Sift together.  With stand mixer on low slowly add flour mixture to creamed butter and mix until smooth and all flour incorporated.  Optional: remove 1/2 of batter into seperate bowl.  Add a few drops of food color to the bowl and mix until color is uniform.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Load cookie dough into feed tube of a cookie press.  Select pattern die and press cookies according to package directions.  Sprinkle raw cookies with decorative sugars

Bake 12-14 minutes until firm. Cool on wire racks.

ZOMG TV Chefs to the Rescue for a dinner party

I was totally not going to use my dinner guests as guinea pigs for test recipes so I opted to go with what looked good on TV this week or in my recipe archive of things I had been meaning to try.  For the former it was Cauliflower Gratin from Laura Calder whom I adore on Cooking TVs French Food at Home.  For the latter it was Alton Brown's Molasses and Coffee Pork Chops that served as the protein for the event.

A couple of things on the pork chops.  I didn't have ground ginger so I opted for fresh ginger that I always have on hand. I used a microplane to prep the ginger for the marinade. A caveat too, since you do have molasses and apple cider vinegar in the marinade that you reduce down to a glaze for the chops after they are grilled use a non-reactive sauce pan to reduce the marinade.  That would be a stainless steel  or stainless steel lined sauce pot to prevent picking up a metallic aftertaste in the glaze.

In the end my dinner guests were so impressed with the meal I sent them home with the recipes so they can duplicate the results at home for themselves.  Do click the links and try it sometime, they are very easy to do and the results are pretty amazing.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

Remember when I did the lobotomy to the jack-o-lanterns a few weeks ago?  Well I put up all the pumpkin in canning jars and have had it refrigerated waiting for just the perfect night for soup. Yes, soup.

It is stupid easy to work with your own or store bought pumpkin.  I prefer my own as I can control the salt better, but its still all good.

Adding in the ginger and cayenne build in a different layer of flavor and heat than just plain curry powder alone.  Worth the extra kick as far as I am concerned.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

• 4 cups (32 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 can chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 T curry powder
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• olive oil

In large sauce pot add enough oil to lightly coat bottom of pot.  Over medium heat add carrot and onion until the onion is translucent.  Add garlic and stir one minute to cook out the raw taste.  Pour mixture into blender with the broth and puree.  Return to pan, add pumpkin and heat through.  Simmer about 15 minutes to let flavors blend.  Test for seasoning and add salt as needed.

Butternut Squash Soup - slightly spiced

It rained this week and it was perfect soup weather. I love Butternut Squash soup and Jax in Glendale makes the best, but they won't give up the recipe no way, no how. I've been working on duplicating. This is pretty close, very tasty and very close.

The secret to making this soup is the long caramelization, 15-20 minutes over medium-low heat so the onion's develop their maximum sweetness while taking out the raw onion sharpness. Low and slow, stirring often and not allowing the onion to char is the secret to good caramelization. (Redundant I know, but I can't drill it into my head enough on this one).

Subtly Spiced Butternut Squash Soup.

• 1 large yellow onion.
• 1 butter nut squash
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 T butter
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 inch thick piece of ginger
• 1/4 T cayenne pepper
• 2 14 oz cans chicken broth
• 1/2 c half and half

Slice, clean out seeds and quarter the butternut squash. Place in microwave safe dish, cover with plastic wrap (cling film to you all in the UK who follow me). Microwave on high 12 minutes. Let cool to room temp covered, it will steam and soften while standing.

Slice onion into thick slices. Slice the ginger thinly. Heat butter and olive oil over medium low heat in large stock pot and add ginger and onion. Cook over slow flame 15-20 minutes until onion is caramelized and a very light golden brown.

With food processor or blender, add the onion and liquid from the squash pan. Pulse until liquefied. Pour back into the stock pot. Take 1/2 of squash and add to processor/blender along with about 1/2 can broth. Process until liquefied and add to stock pot. Repeat with remaining squash. Add enough remaining broth to get the mixture to soup consistency.

Return stock pot to a low flame. Heat until just starting to simmer, stirring occasionally. Once at simmer remove pot from flame and add the half-and-half and stir to mix it in. Do not add half-and-half while pot is on the flame as you might curdle your soup.

Pineapple Cranberry Spread

Paula Deen wasn't kidding around when she says in the south it either starts with a stick of butter or a package of cream cheese.  I got the recipe idea from my sister Niki still in the Ozarks back in MO.  

Back there those little jars of cream cheese with stuff in it are a popular party treat, usually with Ritz, but I won't go there right now.  The usual hands down favorite is the pineapple variety. Those little jars are really pretty expensive if you stop and think about it and that is why my sister came up with her version. 

Her version is simply a can of crushed pineapple and a block of cream cheese.  Not being one to stay in the lines well I took that as the starting point and created my own version.  With two blocks of cream cheese how bad could it be when you have fruit with it?

Pineapple Cranberry Spread

• 2 8oz packages cream cheese - room temperature
• 1 small can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 c dried cranberry
• 1/4 t ground ginger

Put the cranberry in  a small microwave safe bowl.  Drain off the pineapple juice and pour over the cranberry.  Add just enough water to bring cover the cranberry if needed.  Microwave 1 minute and tightly cover.  Let set at least 1 hour.

With mixer beat in ginger and beat until fluffy.  Add Pineapple.  Drain of any remaining liquid from cranberry and pitch it.  Add cranberry to the bowl.  Cold in the fruit.  Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.

Serve with crackers or thinly sliced and toasted baguette.