Dark Molasses Gingerbread With Whipped Cream

This recipe got mangled in the adaption from the version in the cookbook, "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock, from which it was taken.

The original is largely similar, BUT it calls for the following spices:

½ teaspoon ground cloves (omitted from the NYT version)
1 tablespoon ground ginger (cut to ½ teaspoon in the NYT version)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

I suspect that the changes from the original recipe would produce a rather bland gingerbread.

BTW, a 12-ounce jar of Grandma's Unsulphured Original Molasses contains exactly 1½ cups of the stuff.

Okay, just made as dessert with Sifton's chicken paprikash. I wish I were a food scientist to understand why this cake was so light and absolutely delicious. One I will forever make. My amendments: instinct told me 1.5 c molasses would be too much, too wet. I used 1 c. Also, I followed the original spicing -- the full amt. of ginger, which this cake can take + cinnamon + clove. Outcome = cloudlike perfection! It is worth picking up Lewis/Peacock cookbook, subtle stunners throughout.

Try adding some finely chopped candied ginger for a little extra ginger taste.

This is pretty heavy on the molasses, but still works. Be very careful not to use blackstrap molasses. You want unsulphured molasses, which has no bitter taste.

Friendly correction for RDCollins comment that molasses is made from corn, it is not. While some brands may include corn syrup (so check your molasses if you are allergic or sensitive to corn) molasses is typically from sugar cane. There is dark corn syrup, but that is a different product.

Keeper recipe. Did increase the ginger to 1 teaspoon - not sure I would increase to a tablespoon. Also finished it with a Lemon Zest Glaze (also from NYT Cooking). Interesting aside, as I was buying the molasses, the cashier, a young woman about 20, looked at the bottle and asked "What is this?". She did not know what molasses was or what it was used for.

The molasses was so overpowering that it drowned out the ginger and cinnamon. Cake was certainly moist. I will not retry unless I cut molasses by 1/3. Instead will probably just continue my hunt for a good spicy gingerbread recipe.

I was craving a cozy, comforting dessert on an icy Christmas Eve heading into yet another snowstorm, and this looked like the answer. I took the suggestions of several of my fellow cooks here and cut back to 1 cup molasses and increased the spices (1 T ginger, 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t cloves) and threw in some chopped crystallized ginger I happened to have on hand. (There can't be too much ginger for me--my favorite ice cream is ginger!)

Actually, jlsnyc, in the cookbook you cite, Edna Lewis's "The TASTE of Country Cooking," which was published in 1976, she calls for the same spicing as in her book cited in the article ("The GIFT of Southern Cooking," written with Scott Peacock, published 2003), but there are two differences: in the earlier book, she calls for a mix of butter and lard, and she specifies sorghum molasses. I think the newer version sounds better. BTW, I have both books in my collection.

Upped the spices as one commenter suggested. I also added a nandful of raisins which I had plumped in tea. Enjoyed the flavor profile from the extra spice.

However, the molasses flavor is quite strong and had a bit of a dulling effect, and I would preferred a very slightly sweeter cake.

I see that many other recipes call for a combination of brown sugar and molasses. I believe I would try that in the future if making this recipe again. Maybe 1 cup molasses and 1/4 cup brown sugar to start.

The difference between your experience and others' may well be the molasses -- different kinds of molasses will give very different results here. The color you described suggests that you used blackstrap. Unless you love bitter flavors, blackstrap molasses will give a profoundly bitter, "burnt" sort of flavor. If that's the case, you might try the recipe with something like Brer Rabbit "mild flavor" molasses or Grandma's "original."

I prefer it warmed and topped with vanilla ice cream. OINK! ;-)

Reduced molasses to 1 and 1/4 cup and added half a cup of brown sugar. Sweetness was perfect for me. Very moist. Also added a ginger lemon glaze. I took other commenters advice and doubled the spice. My one gripe with the recipe is the note to whisk the water into the flour - impossible and I ended up with so many tiny lumps that I had to work the prepped batter through a sieve before baking. Maybe if you are using a mixer or something but I wouldn’t recommend using a hand whisk.

This gingerbread is very good. I served it to someone allergic to dairy, so used oil rather than butter and it was delicious. I love gingerbread and this tastes mostly of molasses (as expected from the ingredients). I doubled the spices as suggested but think it could use even more spice. If I make it again, I’ll add crystallized ginger.