Sticky Gingerbread...

Gingerbread was always a favorite snack of mine when I was growing up. I would have it with a hot cup of tea slathered with butter and it was perfect for killing that hunger pang in the middle of the day. Things are a little different now with pressure to feed our kids more vegetables and fruit for snacks and I do agree with that but see no harm in slipping in a treat once in a while. I just finished reading an article in The Boston Magazine about how parenting has changed so much since the sixties, seventies and even the eighties. It really got me thinking if I need to reevaluate the way my kids should be brought up. Okay so those of you reading this with no kids are probably yearning for me to shut the heck up and get back to this delicious sticky, spicy loaf. My mom always seemed to have a gingerbread loaf in the kitchen and I wish I had her recipe but I don't think this one is hugely different with all of the right spices and a great sticky crust. I pulled it from an old Scottish cook book I have and can't remember where this book came from, probably a garage sale or used bookstore. In a time now where I will frequently use my laptop to look at recipes whilst cooking it's nice to actually open a book and get some grease marks on the pages. I'm tired of wiping splodges of dough from the keyboard!

As I said before, gingerbread was always in our house but since moving to the U.S. I noticed that it definitely makes a grander appearance at Christmas time. When I worked at Whole Foods we would sell mountains of the stuff all the way through December. It can also be turned into a nice dessert by adding some whipped cream but I still like it covered in butter!

Here's the recipe courtesy of A Feast Of Scotland:

1 1/2c ups AP flour

2 tsps ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

4oz butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4 Tbsp molasses

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with parchment. Melt the butter, sugar, and molasses in a pan. Sift the flour, ginger and cinnamon then stir in the melted butter mixture with the beaten egg and mix well.

Warm the milk to room temp and add the baking soda to it, mix well and add to the main mixture.

Dump the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for about an hour or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Best served the day after covered in good butter!

I'm linking this recipe to Jane Deere's Fusion Friday