Recipes for the holidays: Barefoot Contessa’s gingerbread

The Contessa has never let me down. Her recipes are some of the most flavorful concoctions of all the Food Network stars. And usually pretty simple to make, to boot. Her food inspires such devotion that I once went through the entire foodnetwork.com database, printing out almost every recipe she’s got on there.

I modified this gingerbread recipe, since I don’t like candied ginger, and Mr. X-sXe doesn’t like raisins. In retrospect, leaving out those two ingredients made the gingerbread less spicy and sweet than you might want it (despite the cup of molasses, it was hard to detect any sweetness). So next time I make this, I’m going to add quite a bit more ground ginger, and probably at least 1/3 cup sugar. Also, instead of the orange glaze, I made the rum whipped cream to go with it (recipe also below).

Don’t worry about the fact that there are no eggs in the recipe. It rose just fine, with a light and fluffy, moist texture. Make sure to smooth out the batter in the pan before baking. Unlike cake batter, this one’s so thick that it doesn’t redistribute evenly in the oven.

***Update, 12/7/09: Read on for more gingerbread recipes I’ve road tested: http://bit.ly/5T71x0***

Barefoot Contessa’s Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

• 1/4 cup dark rum or water
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup minced dried crystallized ginger (not in syrup)

For glaze (optional)

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Place the rum and raisins in a small pan, cover and heat until the rum boils. Turn off the heat and set aside. Place the butter and molasses in another small pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cool for 5 minutes, then mix in the sour cream and orange zest.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a small bowl. Mix with your hands until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and mix only until smooth. Drain the raisins and add them and crystallized ginger to the mixture with a spatula. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

When the cake has cooled, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice and pour it onto the gingerbread, allowing it to drip down the sides. Allow the glaze to set. Cut the gingerbread into 9 squares.

Rum Whipped Cream

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon dark rum

Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar, vanilla and rum. Continue to whip until it forms stiff peaks. Serve cold.

Gingerbread recipe here: http://bit.ly/74lMCe