Old Fashioned Gingerbread Food

FAVORITE OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE FROM 1868

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter, sugar, and molasses.
• Beat eggs lightly and add to the butter and sugar mixture.
• Add spices, salt, and baking soda, and stir well to combine.
• Gradually add flour, stirring to combine, until dough reaches a good consistency for rolling.
• Sprinkle flour on counter and on rolling pin and roll out cookies to about 1/4 inch thickness. (If you prefer a crisper cookie you can roll them out to 1/8 inch instead.)
• Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutter and bake cookies at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. (9 minutes will give you a softer cookie.)

OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Grease and flour an 8"x 8" square pan (or line the pan with parchment paper.) *
• Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add the butter, molasses and egg and beat for two minutes or 300 strokes by hand. (This is a very old recipe...)
• Add the boiling water.
• Beat for another two minutes and turn into prepared pan.
• Bake 50-55 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
• Place the rum and raisins in a small pan, cover and heat until the rum boils. Turn off the heat and set aside. Place the butter and molasses in another small pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cool for 5 minutes, then mix in the sour cream and orange zest.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a small bowl. Mix with your hands until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and mix only until smooth. Drain the raisins and add them and crystallized ginger to the mixture with a spatula. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
• When the cake has cooled, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and orange juice and pour it onto the gingerbread, allowing it to drip down the sides. Allow the glaze to set. Cut the gingerbread into 9 squares.

OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in molasses and egg.
• Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter/sugar mixture and mix until well blended.
• Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about a 3/4-inch thickness.
• Cut into 3-inch squares, or use your choice of cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
• Place on cookie sheets and bake 7-8 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• If you plan to ice your gingerbread, prepare the icing now.
• Mix all icing ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.