This looks fantastic to me - I would be interested to hear if you think that the gf flour made any difference to the texture and also to hear if you tweak it. I have only tried chocolate gingerbread once and was quite disappointed but I can see how the cocoa might add to the rich flavour rather than make it taste like a chocolate cake here
Looks lovely. I've tried a choc gingerbread before as well, but wasn't so keen on it. Also a black pepper one, but I thought the pepper overtook the ginger. Looking forward to seeing what everyone chose :)
It must be autumn indeed as everyone seems to be baking with ginger at the moment. It looks delicious, soit's a shame it wasn't as good as you were hoping for. But I'm sure you can improve it. I made ginger and chocolate cupcakes at the weekend.
Sweetie would love this...he loves molasses and chocolate. I think I would use a mild molasses and maybe more cocoa. I'd love a piece of that right now with some tea. Best wishes to all the Cake Slice Bakers on the new book...and new members, too. I'll keep looking each month to see what y'all are up to.
Thanks for all your hard work to keep the Cake Slice Bakers going this year, Katie. I really appreciate it and have loved my first year as part of the group. Lou.
This sounds like an interesting cake. I've never had an actual gingerbread cake, but adding chocolate doesn't seem like a bad idea. I love the thought of pools of chocolate chips on top. Oh the lovely things forgetfulness will bring you.
I always find any American recipes that call for molasses always come out waaaay too molassery for me - maybe the molasses there is less potent? Thanks for the great year baking - I had a great time :)
I have a ginger cake recipe I'm going to try in the next couple of weeks and might add chocolate to it. Hadn't thought of it before. I made a couple of batches of your plum and apple jelly recently. Superb. Easy to make and enjoyed by all. There was the slight problem of the elastic on the jelly bag giving way as I was loading mushed fruit into it causing the jelly bag to fall into the bowl of strained fruit juice which then went all over the table, a chair, the floor, the walls, a door and me. Spreads doesn't it. But I managed to get 4 jars from that episode. The second batch gave me 7 jars and it just tastes so nice.
[Image]This month was extra special for the Cake Slice Bakers as it marks the end of our year baking from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. As of next month, we will now be baking from a new cake book for the upcoming year! Each month the cakes are chosen by a member vote, but as this was to be our last cake from our current book, we were all allowed to select which cake we would like to bake. As the weather had been dull, cold and wet I felt in the need for something spicy and warming and settled on a recipe for Chocolate Gingerbread.
[Image]
I’d never tried a chocolate gingerbread before, but was intrigued by the idea of adding a chocolaty note to this spicy cake. It sounded wonderfully warming and autumnal.
The cake was also a little different to other gingerbreads I’ve made as along with the usual spices it also contained chocolate chips, ground black pepper and espresso powder. I decided to leave the espresso out but loved the addition of the chocolate chips. I forgot to add mine into the batter and so ended up sprinkling them on top instead which created little pools of molted chocolate which were delicious.
[Image]
The cake had a very strong flavour of molasses and that paired with the cocoa powder made for one very dark, rich smelling cake. I loved the colour but found the flavour of the molasses to be too overpowering. I didn’t really get much of a cocoa flavour, apart from when I hit a chunk of chocolate, and found the spices were sort of lost against the strong treacle molasses flavour. It was definitely a spicy tasting cake, but I would have trouble knowing it was a ginger cake. Next time I’d reduce the black treacle and increase the amount of ginger I used.
[Image]
The cake itself was light and moist with a lovely sticky surface. It had a soft, slightly damp texture which gave it a pudding feel. It tasted fabulous warmed with a little custard, the perfect thing to tuck into on a cold evening.
Strangely enough, after a couple of days the cake went a little dry instead of going even sticker like traditional gingerbread. All in all it was a very nice cake, but I feel with a few alternations it could become something really special
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Click here to see what other cakes the Cake Slice Bakers selected.
Now for some exciting news! As this was our last cake from our current cake book, we are now opening up group to fellow cake baking enthusiasts who wish to bake with us for the upcoming year. Places are limited and you will need to buy a copy of the new cake book to participate, so dedicated bakers only please.
Anyone wishing to join us can email me at (appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk) along with their name, blog name, blog URL and email address for details. Please put ‘New Cake Slice Member’ in the subject box.
Chocolate Gingerbread
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)
[Image]Ingredients
120g black treacle or molasses
120g plain flour (I used 100g white teff flour & 20g brown rice flour)
170ml hot water
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
50g butter
110g light soft brown sugar
1 egg yolk
50g dark chocolate chips
½ tsp espresso powder (I left this out)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour an 8inch/20cm square baking tin.
Stir together the hot water and black treacle and set aside to cool.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso and all the spices into a bowl and set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in a separate large mixing bowl and beat together until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg yolk and beat until incorporated. Pour in half the molasses mixture and carefully whisk until combined. Scatter over half the flour mixture and whisk again, followed by the rest of the molasses mixture and finishing with the rest of the flour.
Fold in the dark chocolate chips and pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until firm and springy to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack and leaving to cool.
Cut into squares and serve.
Makes one 8inch/20cm cake. Best eaten within 2 days.
[Image]Notes:
I baked my cake in a 9inch tin and got a thinner cake. It took 20 minutes to bake.
I would reduce the molasses to 80g, as I found the flavour very overpowering
I would double the ground ginger stated in the recipe as it was quite subtle.
I’d also line the tin as well as greasing it, as some of my cake stuck to the base when I tried to turn it out.
"The Cake Slice September 2011: Chocolate Gingerbread"
17 Comments -
This looks fantastic to me - I would be interested to hear if you think that the gf flour made any difference to the texture and also to hear if you tweak it. I have only tried chocolate gingerbread once and was quite disappointed but I can see how the cocoa might add to the rich flavour rather than make it taste like a chocolate cake here
20 September 2011 at 11:04
Looks lovely. I've tried a choc gingerbread before as well, but wasn't so keen on it. Also a black pepper one, but I thought the pepper overtook the ginger. Looking forward to seeing what everyone chose :)
20 September 2011 at 12:49
It must be autumn indeed as everyone seems to be baking with ginger at the moment. It looks delicious, soit's a shame it wasn't as good as you were hoping for. But I'm sure you can improve it. I made ginger and chocolate cupcakes at the weekend.
20 September 2011 at 20:07
Sweetie would love this...he loves molasses and chocolate. I think I would use a mild molasses and maybe more cocoa. I'd love a piece of that right now with some tea.
Best wishes to all the Cake Slice Bakers on the new book...and new members, too. I'll keep looking each month to see what y'all are up to.
20 September 2011 at 21:55
Thanks for all your hard work to keep the Cake Slice Bakers going this year, Katie. I really appreciate it and have loved my first year as part of the group.
Lou.
20 September 2011 at 22:37
This sounds like an interesting cake. I've never had an actual gingerbread cake, but adding chocolate doesn't seem like a bad idea. I love the thought of pools of chocolate chips on top. Oh the lovely things forgetfulness will bring you.
21 September 2011 at 03:15
Love the rich deep chocolate color from the cake! This is perfect for the fall, I can see how it would warm you inside with all the spices :)
21 September 2011 at 05:00
I always find any American recipes that call for molasses always come out waaaay too molassery for me - maybe the molasses there is less potent?
Thanks for the great year baking - I had a great time :)
21 September 2011 at 07:50
I have a ginger cake recipe I'm going to try in the next couple of weeks and might add chocolate to it. Hadn't thought of it before. I made a couple of batches of your plum and apple jelly recently. Superb. Easy to make and enjoyed by all. There was the slight problem of the elastic on the jelly bag giving way as I was loading mushed fruit into it causing the jelly bag to fall into the bowl of strained fruit juice which then went all over the table, a chair, the floor, the walls, a door and me. Spreads doesn't it. But I managed to get 4 jars from that episode. The second batch gave me 7 jars and it just tastes so nice.
21 September 2011 at 10:54
HI Lady Chutney,
Glad you enjoyed the jelly despite the mishap - that must have taken some cleaning up! Hot jelly sticky to everything!!
21 September 2011 at 14:53
Fantastic recipe Katie, I just love how dark it has turned out too. A real treat for this weather ;0)
21 September 2011 at 17:45
I second the thanks on all your organisational work - much appreciated.
I have to say that anything containing ginger is good by me!!
I went with the Nutella cake this month.
21 September 2011 at 19:29
Marvellous cake!
Katie, thank you for the fun time I had with TCS for the past year and I AM SO Looking forward to the coming baking months!
22 September 2011 at 02:46
That cake looks so dark and rich-I'm sorry it didn't live up to your expectations.
Can't wait to bake from the new book. It looks promising.
23 September 2011 at 07:59
wow, this looks amazing! Can't wait to give it a try.
23 September 2011 at 14:53
Chocolate and ginger, nice.
26 September 2011 at 04:25
oh! YUMMY!!!!
10 October 2011 at 01:11