Molasses Gingerbread with Lime Cream

Name: Molasses Gingerbread with Lime Cream
Yield: makes 12 servings
Ingredients: 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, plus more for buttering the pan; 1 cup sugar; 3 eggs; 2 cups flour; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger); 1 cup unsulfured molasses; 2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water; Lime Cream; 2 eggs; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/3 cup fresh lime juice; Zest of 1 lime, grated (about 1 tablespoon); 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces; 1 cup heavy cream

December 14, 2011

Moist, spicy gingerbread is one of those simple desserts that people tend to associate fondly with childhood holidays. For me, it harks back to the Christmas seasons that I spent as a kid in Europe where gingerbread is particularly popular. Blending a mixture of baking soda and boiling water into molasses has a magical transforming effect in the oven. The light brown batter becomes very dark, rich, and deeply flavored when baked. Fragrant with warm, fresh ginger, this gingerbread is very moist, simple to make, and irresistible. Lime Cream is an unexpected—but perfect—partner. The recipe makes enough cream for one gingerbread cake. Any leftover cream is delicious slathered over toasted pound cake, buttermilk biscuits, or brioche. Don’t reserve this recipe just for holiday baking—it will make your family sublimely happy all year long.

Cooks' Note

If you don’t have time to make the lime cream, no one is going to complain if you serve this cake with whipped cream sweetened with brown sugar and a couple of tablespoons of bourbon.

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