Finale of Cooking The Breakfast Book, Chapter 12: Soft Gingerbread

With the close of a year, so too ends my Cook the Book adventure. Thank you so much to my fellow chefs and blog pals: Emily, Natasha, Rachel and Claudie and Sammy. Through a chance meeting at an event, we continued to bond over German sausage, Spanish tapas, drinks, lots of recipes and a love of breakfast! It's wonderful to count five new friends through a shared experience, even if we have yet to cook together. I still want to have a group gathering where we each cook or bring our favorite recipe from the book and indulge together. Who knows, 2013 is a brand new year and full of promise...

Appropriately, I feel like I am going out with a bang on this project. The Soft Gingerbread is perhaps my favorite recipe so far; mouth-watering and wholly satisfying. This dark, spicy, perfumed deliciousness is dense but airy, nicely sticky and not-too-sweet.

I know this will become a go-to recipe for me and have already touted its worth to multiple friends.

The key ingredient

Spices + molasses = magic

Bubbles begin to emerge from the start

After blending

Mixing in the dry ingredients

Air pockets galore

Freshly baked gingerbread smells really really good

Show me your best side

A born crowd pleaser

Soft Gingerbread
Makes one eight-inch square gingerbread (and then some)
Adapted from from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham  

1 cup sugar
1 cup dark molasses
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and lightly flour your baking pan. I actually ended up with enough batter for an eight-inch square plus a small loaf, so be prepared for extra.

Add the sugar, molasses, oil, and eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. From the start you will notice a lot of bubbling, which makes this project extra fun in my book.

In another bowl, combine the salt, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, flour, and baking soda and stir with a fork until well mixed. Stir into the first mixture and add boiling water. Beat briskly until smooth. Note this is a thin batter and will rise.

Pour into the pan(s) and bake 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm. For the record, it also pairs magnificently with ice cream (I suggest mint chip).

Lastly, in my opinion this is a recipe for all seasons, and many occasions. Enjoy it!