Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [187]
Remove the bananas from the peel and arrange a banana half and a slice of cake on a plate for each person. Bring the rum to a boil in a small saucepan or skillet. Add the vanilla, remove from the heat, and stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons butter until melted.
Pour over the bananas and part of the cake and serve.
CAKE
Grilled Black Pepper Gingerbread with Chipotle Chocolate Butter
MAKES 9 SERVINGS
We love the interplay of sweet and spicy—in barbecue sauces, spice rubs, and on the dessert plate. This palate-popping grilled gingerbread explodes with black pepper, chiles, and dark brown sugar (boosted with extra molasses). Then we add a little smoke with chipotle chiles suspended in creamy chocolate butter and by charring the surface of the cake over a hot fire. The combined effect is over-the-top spicy.
INGREDIENTS:
Black Pepper Gingerbread:
Flour-and-oil baking spray
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 cup dark molasses
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
2 eggs, large or extra-large
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons baking soda
2⅓ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup boiling hot coffee
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup Chipotle Chocolate Butter
DIRECTIONS:
For the gingerbread: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the brown sugar, molasses, mustard, and eggs, beating with a whisk until smooth. Add the ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper, and then add the baking soda in pinches, breaking up any lumps with your fingers. Stir until well blended. Mix in the flour, stirring just until blended, followed by the hot coffee.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is springy and a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert and remove from pan, and cool right-side up to room temperature.
Light a grill for direct medium-high heat, about 400°F.
Cut the gingerbread into 9 squares and brush the top and bottom of each square with melted butter.
Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Put the squares on the grill and cook until toasted on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
Arrange the gingerbread on a platter or plates, and top with the chipotle chocolate butter before serving.
KEEP IT SIMPLE:
Use store-bought gingerbread instead of homemade. To get the spicier flavor, add ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper and ¼ teaspoon ground mustard to the melted butter used to brush on the gingerbread squares before grilling. Or use a gingerbread cake mix and add the spices to the dry ingredients.
CAKE
Grilled Smoked Sweet Potato Skillet Cake
MAKES 8 SERVINGS
Smoked salt, smoked oil, and the radiating smoke of wood chips smoldering over flame combine to give this cake its unique flavor profile. The sweet potato in the cake plays a role similar to that of carrots in a carrot cake. The vegetable doesn’t take over the flavor (the brown sugar, smoked oil, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice take care of that) but it does affect the cake’s shelf life helping to keep it fresh for as long as there is moisture left in the potato shards. Vegetable cakes of this type easily stay fresh for over a week.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups hardwood wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Flour-and-oil baking spray
4 eggs, large or extra-large
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup hickory-smoked oil, or ¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons canola oil plus 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons smoked salt, plus more for sprinkling
2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely shredded (about 4 cups)
2 cups chopped pecans (about 8 ounces)
¼ cup confectioners