Ruby Tandoh’s gingerbread laced with porter

This recipe is from Crumb, Tandoh’s first cookbook. The porter makes the cake. You will want an eight inch springform cake pan.

Preheat the oven to 350˚.

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter plus butter for greasing the springform
• 3 oz treacle or molasses
• 4 Tablespoons soft brown sugar
• about 2 in peeled and grated gingerroot or a heaped Tablespoon jarred minced ginger
• about 3½ oz porter
• a large beaten egg
• 4 oz flour by weight
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• heaped ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

1. Grease the spingform.
2. Melt the butter, treacle and sugar in a small heavy pot over low heat Stir the fresh ginger and porter into the mix.
3. Remove the mixture from the heat and quickly whisk in the egg.
4. Combine the flour, ground ginger and baking soda in a big bowl, then slowly whisk the cooked mixture into the bowl until the batter is smooth.
5. Pour the batter into the springform--it will be quite wet--and bake the gingerbread until, as Tandoh says, “the top is springy and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean, usually in about 25 minutes.

Note:

-You could substitute stout for porter but the porter is better. Fuller’s London porter is the benchmark: In the United States, porters from Foolproof, Mayflower and Stoneface represent good examples. In no case would we recommend the otherwise outstanding oyster stout from Twenty-First Brewing for gingerbread.