Ginger Spice Cake

It seems that I am surrounded by more foodies that I thought! Down in the studio where I have my design internship, fellow foodie, Ryan, arranged a Thanksgiving potluck this past Wednesday. It was a joyous event, everyone brought something delicious. Including Ryan (of In Search of the Perfect Pie) and his AMAZING turkey (no kidding- the best thanksgiving turkey I've ever eaten!) among other nom nom things.
For my contribution, I decided that I'd make dessert: Ginger spice cake (with pumpkin ice cream.)
My sister had made it for a Christmas eve dinner sometime in the past, and remembering how yum-tastic it was, I called her and asked her for the recipe. She said that she'd gotten it off of epicurious.com.
Nonetheless, amazing. I really love this cake because of its ginger-licious flavor and it always turns out super moist and amazing.
Here we go:

You'll need:
1 1/4 C all purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C molasses (I used dark molasses even though the recipe calls for lighter molasses)
1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 boiling water

Start out by preheating the oven to 350° and butter/flour an 8 inch square baking dish. Then, whisk the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, ground cloves, and salt into a bowl. Then whisk in the crstalized ginger.
Ginger tips: The crystalized ginger can be very overpowering if not handled correctly. It is important to chop it into teensy pieces before adding them into the other ingredients. Also, once you've whisked them in, it's a good idea to use your hands and sift through to make sure there aren't any giant clumps stuck together. 

Next, whisk the molasses, oil, brown sugar, egg, and lemon peel into a big bowl. Whisk well, then add the boiling water. Next, you'll add the dry ingredients into the big bowl of wet ingredients. Don't do this all at once, do it gradually to avoid clumping. I normally put in 1/3 at a time and whisk in between to get everything all mixed.

Pour the batter into the baking dish and put it in the oven. Bake it for about 30 minutes, or until a tester (toothpick) comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Serve with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream. (ohmygod NOM NOM NOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Into the oven

"EAT ME!!!!"

The potluck was lovely, everyone brought something delicious. There was turkey (of course), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, olives, pickles, apple cider, boysenberry pie, and of course, ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream. It was a bit hard to get back to work afterward, due to the food induced coma...

Ryan carving the turkey @ the head of our spread of amazing food!

Foodie Foodie!