Recipe By : The Great American Dessert Cookbook
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cakes Snacks
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter -- at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg -- lightly beaten
1/2 cup dark table molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 cup boiling hot coffee
Garnish: Confectioners sugar -- optional
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour an 8-inch square pan. Set
aside. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and
salt. Set aside. In a bowl, beat the butter until creamy, then gradually add
the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until smooth, then
beat in the molasses. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the boiling
coffee, mixing until just combined. (The batter will be thin.) Pour into the
prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in
the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. To make a
special presentation, you can top the gingerbread with a design made from
confectioners sugar. To do so, use a triple thickness of decorative paper
doilies. Remove any excess uncut paper. Fasten the doily to the top of the
gingerbread with toothpicks or pins. Sprinkle over and around the doily with
sifted confectioners sugar. Remove the picks or pins and lift the doily
straight up. There should remain a lacy snowflake design of powdered sugar.
