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Friday, February 16, 2007   Because It's Just Weird Enough To Be Good Now presenting: Chocolate Gingerbread I know--that sounds fucked up. But it's in Nigella's book, and the picture makes it look good. I trust Nigella--that Brit can cook. And she's hot. And, well, I kind of fucked up a chocolate cheesecake (the chocolate seized up somehow and was not good), so I need a nummy for this weekend's belated V-D weekend with Ian. (What? Irises and lilies deserve nummies.) Ingredients: 1 1/2 sticks butter 1 cup plus 2 T brown sugar (dark preferred) 2 T sugar 3/4 cup dark molasses 3/4 cup golden syrup or dark corn syrup 1/4 t cloves 1 t cinnamon (I used vietnamese cassia cinnamon--see previous post) 2 t ginger 1 1/4 t baking soda 2 T warm water 2 eggs 1 cup milk 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 x 2 pan with parchment--make sure you leave enough parchment to cover the sides of the pan. My lazy version involves cutting a piece that's bigger than the pan, placing it over the pan, and then letting the batter smush it into the pan when I pour. To make the batter, get a big saucepan. Put in butter, sugars, stickies, and spices, except baking soda. Melt all of the above together over medium heat, stirring while it melts. Mix the baking soda with water, and when everything is melted, add the baking soda mix. Watch things bubble. Mix in milk and eggs, then add flour and cocoa. Add chocolate chips and you have your batter. Pour batter into the pan, and bake for about 45 minutes until the cake is risen and firm (it will be damp). Now, there is icing. Ingredients: 2 cups confectioners sugar 2 T butter 1 T cocoa 1/4 cup ginger ale Either sift the sugar or blitz in a food processor to remove lumps. In a small saucepan, heat the rest of the ingredients. Once everything is melted, whisk it into the sugar or let the food processor blitz it to icing. It will be kind of pourable. Pour over the gingerbread, let it set, and cut into squares and devour the weird nummy. Now, I've got my desert figured out--just need to figure out what I'm going to serve for dinner. :) posted by jaime | 6:34 PM 0 comments

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