The whole thing started with my dad gifting me a pack of gingerbread spices a few months ago. This was not a random act, he knew very well what he's doing and I got the message loud and clear, but have never used it, till today. At first I thought it would be good for Christmas, as that's when I'm usually making gingerbread, but on a second thought I didn't want to waste time experimenting, I needed to hurry and use a recipe I was already familiar with.
Then this weekend 
Foody feels on the weekend
I know a lot of y'all like to bake and the weekend provides the chance to do so. What I want to see is your best bread, pie, biscuit, cookie or cake recipe and the pictures of the finished product. Tell us the ingredients, the method and write some words about why this is your go-to, favourite or best baking recipe. All images in this post must be ones you took yourself. source
So I thought this would be a good occasion to try this gingerbread out and make it my favorite, so here it is. Or voil脿? 馃槀
This is the packet of spices I got and the recipe on the back. I'm going to quote the recipe as it's not mine and translate it to you as it's in Romanian.
- 400g all purpose flour,
- 120g butter (recipe says margarine but I don't use any),
- 250g sugar,
- 2 eggs,
- 4 tbs plum jam,
- 3 tsp unsweetened cocoa,
- 1 packet of gingerbread spices (the one in the photo), if you don't have this, you can use something else,
- 250ml milk,
- 1tsp sodium bicarbonate,
First I soaked the raisins in my good old white rum and let them soak in the rum for an hour.
Melt the butter and let it cool down. Beat the eggs with sugar, till you get a white mix. Then add milk, cocoa, flour mixed with sodium bicarbonate, gingerbread spices. Mix, then add the plum jam and mix well. Next add the melted butter and mix well. Pour the mix into the cake pan.
I used a trick here. I'm always using baking paper, but lining the baking pan nicely is not easy. I hate it when you can see the wrinkles on the cake, so to be able to avoid that, I made the baking paper wet and was able to line it better.
The recipe says you can add dried fruits or walnuts. I had both, but this time I decided to go with raisins as I love them, so I sprinkled the top with raisins.
The baking time indicated by the recipe was 60 minutes at 180掳C.
The thing is, I never fully trust these recipes, so at first I set my cooking clock to 50 minutes, which wasn't enough, but gave me the chance to cover my cake to avoid burning the raisins on top. I was hoping raisins would sink into the dough, but looks like the dough was too thick and the raisins stayed on the top. So after covering the cake, put it back to the oven and baked for another 20 minutes at 150掳C, which was the right decision.
I always forget to mention, but for those that are new, I took the cake out of the oven, put it on the cooling rack and let it cool, before cutting it. Never cut any cake while still hot.
And voil脿!
Another thing, the recipe says cover the top with cocoa glaze, which may look good but on second thought, who needs more calories? So I decided to sprinkle it with powdered sugar as it's a healthier option.
It's true that this is my first attempt at this one, but not the last as it's heavenly good. I like the spices as the flavor is not too strong and although the recipe has 250g sugar, the cake is not too sweet. The raisins are a nice addition to it, but as the recipe says, walnuts are good too. Or both actually, one does not exclude the other.
So this is my entry for this week. The two slices you see on the plate go to
So, gingerbread anyone? 馃槀 Let's see who's brave enough to taste it.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
