Gingerbread

 
                                GINGERBREAD
 
 Recipe By     : The Great American Dessert Cookbook
 Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
 Categories    : Cakes                            Snacks
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    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.
 
 YIELD: 6 to 8 servings
 
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