Recipe 1 - Gingerbread

I rushed this onto my newly-designed blog for the benefit of one of my food heroes, Jack Monroe (and their fellow fans). This is an old family recipe passed down to at least 3 generations of sturdy Irish-Canadian women. The only alteration I made was replacing the cheap and trans-fatty vegetable shortening with more healthful (and tasty) butter. As my equally-sturdy French ancestors would say, bon appetit!

Gingerbread

This also makes the base for Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle, page _.

Recommended tools

Medium bowl, sifter, large bowl, electric mixer, small bowl, whisk, Bundt cake pan

Ingredients

• 2 ½ C flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ C butter
• 1½ C sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 C boiling water
• 1 C molasses
• 1 TBS aroma-free coconut oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In bowl, sift together the first six dry ingredients
3. In bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth
4. In bowl, beat egg, then add molasses and whisk
5. Alternately add dry ingredients, molasses mixture and water to large bowl, mixing in between to form batter.
6. Coat pan with oil, pour in batter
7. Bake 45 minutes
8. Test centre with toothpick and if not clean, bake for 5 more minutes, repeat until toothpick comes out dry.
9. Save some for trifle base (if you can) and slice and serve the rest with a nice cup of tea!