Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tuesdays With Dorie: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread



Heather of Sherry Trifle chose Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread for this week's TWD. I love gingerbread and chocolate but have never had the pair together, in fact I would never have thought to pair them up.

For this recipe Dorie listed an optional ingredient I am not familiar with, stem ginger, young ginger that has been peeled and preserved in a sugar syrup. Since I didn't feel like going out of my way too much looking for some, I just threw in some extra fresh grated ginger (and because I was out of ginger powder). I made this in a 9x13 pan and baked for 36 minutes (at 30 mins, it was still wiggly in the center).
*I just realized it should've been a 9x9 pan, even after reading Dorie's note on TWD! Oh well, it's still a cake, and came out just as good as any other.
I doubled the icing, because I baked it in a 9x13, I had more surface to cover.

Dorie also suggested serving this with ginger-infused whipped cream. YUM! So of course I did! Just heat up the whipped cream with fresh ginger, let steep, cool in the fridge, strain, and then whip up with a little powdered sugar to sweeten.

My review on this is, it certainly has some bold flavors going on, I wasn't crazy about it, and it wasn't super kid friendly here either. There's the ginger flavor, with all the chocolate, and then the chocolate icing enhanced with the coffee. After letting it sit even longer (I baked it the night before, and we ate it for dessert the next night), the icing (much like a ganache) just melted in your mouth, mmm. Then it turned on me day 3. It became dry and crumbly. Day 4 even worse. Day 5, the last 3 pieces are headed to the trash. Sorry Dorie!
I know other TWDers liked this, but I will probably stick to my basic gingerbread recipe.








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20 Lovely Comments:

Flourchild said...

I agree there with you there are some bold flavors going on...I love your bread it looks great!

Marie Rayner said...

Even though you didn't really like it I think your cake looks wonderful. I love gingerbread and I love chocolate dipped candied ginger, so I did love this cake. Although I didn't use the chocolate frosting, instead I did a vanilla buttercream.

Leslie M. said...

This looks really good! My hubby LOVES gingerbread. In NY, where I am from, and there is a bakery on every corner, they sell, gingerbread iced with a thick coating of chocolate ganache, similar to a brownie. It's really not MY thing, but my Hubby would walk a mile out of his way for one. These look out of this world!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com

Cristine said...

Your cake looks fantastic with that dollop of whipped cream! YUM!

Anonymous said...

Mine started to try out too...I may just eat the icing off the top!

elizabeth said...

We liked it, but we didn't love it. I'll probably also stick to my own recipe.

BUT...I did want to say how wonderful your photos are. :)

Anonymous said...

Your gingerbread looks gorgeous. Too bad it wasn't a super hit!

Isabelle Lambert said...

moi aussi, je vais m'en tenir à ma recette de pain d'épices...cette recette est tellement différente de ce que j'aime...je l'ai passée dans un trifle....malgré tout, tu l'as bien réussi Rachelle :)

Pamela said...

Holy Cow! Those are some really enticing pictures! I liked this cake, but I don't think I've ever really baked a basic Gingerbread cake before. Guess I have to give that a try. Great job.

Kimberly Johnson said...

Your gingerbread looks fantastic! I thought the ginger infused whipped cream was really good, especially on fruit!

Unknown said...

Even thought it wasn't your favorite, your picture makes it look wonderful. I also thought it was a bit dry, but that was probably my fault...

Anonymous said...

There is definitely a lot going on with this cake! I'm glad you made the whipped cream! And it looks absolutely gorgeous!

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Looks delicious! I was just making beetroot brownies last night... I will post recipe tomorrow.

RecipeGirl said...

I did chocolate ginger cookies once and those worked well together. The cake must be a little overpowering, eh? Pretty pics though!

TeaLady said...

Whipped cream. Chocolate slowly sliding down the sides of the gingerbread. UUUMMM!!!!!!

AmyRuth said...

The texture of your gingerbread is really nice. I was expecting a nicer finer crumb. Mine was dry as well. I would rather have other calories for my thighs.... he he he. Anyway, glad we baked right?
Happy Baking
AmyRuth

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