Tag: dessert

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Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

As I recently mentioned, I’m Back in the Baking Game.

And since we moved, I have only replaced my baking sheet, and don’t have any cake or muffin pans, and therefore have only baked cookies or brownies in our baking dish.

And for the past several weeks, I’ve been completely off processed sugar, which unfortunately for my tastebuds means NO CHOCOLATE.

And I want dessert! I want cake! I want something YUMMY!

And, as I’ve already mentioned, I’m Back in the Baking Game.

So, I bought some unsulphured molasses since I’m no longer buying brown sugar (did you know that brown sugar is only white table sugar with some molasses added?) and I like that molasses flavor in some things (like oatmeal), and it came with recipes. Yummy looking recipes.

One of them is called: Old-Fashioned Gingerbread. And so I made it, and it HIT THE SPOT.

Here’s the recipe:

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp flour (whole wheat, of course!)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves (I used nutmeg)

pinch of salt

5 tbsp butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar (I used about half of that in granulated stevia and the rest organic evaporated cane juice)

1 large egg

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup cold water

powdered sugar (again, I used granulated stevia)

Heat oven to 350F. Grease an 8×8 cake pan ( I used my cast iron pan, remember: no cake pan).  Sift together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and creamy.  Add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until well combined.  Pour the molasses in a slow, steady stream, beating all the while.  Add half of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until well combined.  Mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Slowly pour in the cold water and stir until well incorporated.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Let cool in the pan about one hour before serving.  Cut the cake into squares  and dust with powdered sugar.

I couldn’t wait a full hour.  It’s even better when it’s still a little warm.

Enjoy!

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Apple Crisp


Most evenings we don’t have dessert after dinner. But once a week, we have a special treat. This is one of our favorites, and although cooking the apples takes away most of their nutritional value, at least it’s not loaded with sugar or other processed ingredients.

APPLE CRISP
Adapted from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee

8-10 apples
¼ c honey (preferably raw)
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp whole wheat flour (preferably freshly ground)
Optional: heavy whipping cream for garnish

CRUMB TOPPING

1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup brown sugar or sucanat
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
Zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Peel, core, and slice the apples into eighths. Toss the apple slices with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and flour.
3. Put the apple mixture into a 9-inch round baking dish with high sides.
4. Using your fingers, in a different bowl, make the topping by crumbling together the flour, sugar, and butter. Add the lemon zest.
5. Distribute the crumb topping over the apples. Bake until the topping is brown and crusty, about 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Optional: beat heavy whipping cream with electric egg beater until desired texture. If desired, add 2 tbsp sugar and ½ tsp vanilla before beating. Place a dollup on each plate before serving.