gingammonbread

Here's a Friday morning poser for you (TGIF, by the way): Why is it called gingerbread when the ingredients call for just as much cinnamon as ginger? That's cinnamon discrimination, and I won't stand for it! Henceforth, I shall refer to any such creation as gingammonbread instead.


This gingammonbread is particularly unique because it's made with a sourdough starter. That's right, Eb is back again. I'm really trying to find every possible usage for a sourdough starter, and I was delighted to find a recipe for sourdough gingammonbread. It has all the necessary components--ginger, cinnamon, and molasses--with the added use of a starter.


I must confess that I'm not too keen on gingammonbread. The culprit is the molasses--the taste just makes my face scrunch up (quite an unattractive look, I assure you). (There does seem to be one exception to my distaste for molasses and that, oddly enough, is molasses cookies. I'm not sure what it is about them, but the flavor of the molasses just doesn't bother me. But I digress.) As far as gingammonbread goes, this was good. The sourdough flavor wasn't too strong, it just made the other flavors a little more complex. It was also extremely moist, which I consider a good thing in cake-type breads.

My beloved Mamboni always tops her gingammonbread with a lemon glaze, so I went ahead and did that too. As it turns out--surprise, surprise--the Mambourine does, in fact, know best. The glaze made all the difference. Good call, Mammy.


(I wouldn't mind a dip in that pool...)

The person responsible for the original recipe called it Alaskan Sourdough Gingerbread, but since I'm not Alaskan and since I don't condone cinnamon discrimination, I've renamed it as I see fit.

Virginian Sourdough Gingammonbread
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup Eb-like creation

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons water, if needed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease up a 8x8-inch baking dish or mini loaf pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the molasses and egg, beat until well blended, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and blend into the hot water. Warning--you'll end up with a gloppy mess. Beat this mess into the creamed mixture like there's no tomorrow. Gradually add your Eb, mixing carefully to maintain a bubbly batter.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until the toothpick test is passed.
For the icing, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar and gradually add the water, if needed. Spread over the cooled gingammonbread and try to let it set before cutting.

P.S. Please visit this post on my good friend Katie's site, The Kitchen and Beyond. She needs to pick your brains for some good frozen entree ideas.

P.P.S. I'm submitting this to Sunita for her Think Spice event, celebrating its one-year anniversary. Cinnamon rules.




P.P.P.S. Did you know that Julia Child was once a covert operative? My respect for her just grew even more.