All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [28]
Subject: RE: Today’s cake
Yeah, that bite would have been
a little MORE gingery if I’d had
another 1/2 cup of crystallized
ginger! Ouch! The flour mix is half
white/half wheat. Can you tell
the wheat’s in there?
From: Ari Shapiro
To: Melissa Gray
Subject: RE: Today’s cake
Yeah, the cake feels rustic in a
good way. I think it’s a combination
of several things–the wheat
flour, the beer, the amount of
sugar …
From: Melissa Gray
To: Ari Shapiro
Subject: RE: Today’s cake
I’ll file this one under “rustic”
then! Thanks for the feedback!
From: Ari Shapiro
To: Melissa Gray
Subject: RE: Today’s cake
Thanks for the cake!
Gingery Cream Cheese Frosting
Now, as you might suspect, ATF Gingerbread is a more aromatic and less sweet gingerbread than what you’re used to. If you’re one of those who needs the sweet and doesn’t mind just a little more kick, I recommend this frosting, which I found in Sharing Our Best, a community cookbook project sponsored by the Gideon Sunday School Class of Providence Baptist Church, in Gloucester, Virginia.
The recipe makes enough to heavily frost one 8- or 9-inch layer, or the top of a cake baked in a 10-inch tube pan.
* * *
YOU’LL NEED
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla at medium speed. Add the confectioners’ sugar gradually, add the ginger, and beat until smooth.
Like, baking with chocolate: A Few Things You Should Know
If you’ve never seen the 1993 magical realist Mexican film Like Water for Chocolate, run—do not walk—to your nearest DVD rental or access your Netflix account. There’s a scene involving a chocolate mole (mo-lay), a sauce that might possibly make you daydream sensual thoughts of seducing your lover by baking with chocolate. Unfortunately for me, my lover/husband hates chocolate. If only I knew how to bake Cheetos.
People who love chocolate REALLY love chocolate, so when you’re making a chocolate cake for the office, you’re practically guaranteed the status of a minor deity for at least a day. But not all chocolate is the same, and it’s important you use the best chocolate for the job.
Chocolate comes from the beans of the cacao tree. The beans are roasted, then crushed to separate the meat, or nib of the bean, from the husk and the germ. Through grinding and heating, the nibs produce chocolate liquor, which is about 55 percent cocoa butter. The liquor is then processed into different types of chocolate.
Unsweetened chocolate, also known as baking chocolate, smells great but tastes terrible. It usually comes in 1 inch squares.
Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate can be maddening, because there’s no set rule for how much sugar can be added to the chocolate, and each manufacturer has its own “secret” formula. You may have to try a few brands to find the one that you prefer. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate are made by combining chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin (a soybean product), and vanilla. They’re sold in bars, blocks, and morsels.
Most white chocolate isn’t really chocolate. It’s made from cocoa butter without the chocolate liquor. The cocoa butter is mixed with sugar, milk, and vanilla. It’s very rich, has a very low melting point, and shouldn’t be substituted for regular chocolate. It’s also sold in bars, blocks, and morsels.
Milk chocolate is ideal for cravings, not for baking, so forget that. It’s got a higher milk and sugar content than other true chocolates.
Unsweetened cocoa is a powder made by removing at least 75 percent of the cocoa butter from chocolate liquor.
Dutch process unsweetened cocoa is similar to unsweetened cocoa, except the acid in the chocolate has been neutralized before processing. This gives the cocoa a milder flavor and makes it easier to dissolve. It should only be used in recipes where baking powder is the primary leavening agent. Dutch process and regular unsweetened cocoa are NOT interchangeable.
Both cocoas