In the interest of getting more recipes out there for you to try (I know that at least one person made the first recipe after I posted it), I’ll dispense with artsy photos and get right to this week’s recipe. The next recipe required a significantly different approach, so I’ll share photos of that one. For now, enjoy!
Sour Milk Gingerbread
1 cup molasses 1-3/4 teaspoons soda
1 cup sour milk 2 teaspoons ginger
2-1/3 cups flour ½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup melted butter
Mix soda with sour milk and add to molasses. Sift together remaining ingredients, combine mixtures, add butter, and beat vigorously. Pour into a buttered, shallow pan, and bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
Notes on the process: This recipe calls for a tad more flour and a ½ teaspoon more ginger than the first. It uses sour milk instead of water. In Kate’s day, unpasteurized milk would sour naturally. According to The Joy of Cooking, pasteurized milk is missing the little dude that performs the souring action, so it simply spoils. Ugh. To sour a cup of milk, we let it sit out until it’s room temperature. Then we add a Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. I prefer lemon juice, personally.
The batter was beautiful and foamy (sorry no photos – I was lost in the moment), fragrant and dark. Again, it was baked in a moderate (350F) electric oven, but took 40 minutes in a 9”x9” greased pan.
Notes on the product: Quite gingery, not too sweet. A bit drier than the first. Crust fairly tough, but then it baked a long time.
The same Official Tasters as before say: The general assessment is that it’s noticeably less molasses- y. But very good.
