Gingerbread cake from Mennonite "More-with-Less Cookbook"

[Lenona]

It's on page 284, in my edition. (1976, but the printing is from 1984.)

2 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup oil or margarine
2 eggs, beaten

Beat just until smooth. Pour into 9" x 9" greased pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 F. Serve hot with applesauce blended with yogurt.

(I didn't bother with that last part. Also, some may want more sugar - but it was good enough.)

Next gingerbread recipe I'll try will be from the one of the Great Depression books by Rita van Amber.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/925697.More_With_Less_Cookbook
(this has a cover from a later edition - it's not clear if it's the 2003 edition or not)

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/more-with-less-cookbook_doris-janzen-longacre/269968/item/4559219/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw94WZBhDtARIsAKxWG--f4IkTjWHK5FSM3gvoHaVJ2Y-ch9vO5pkXQ6wbGTtYNPagmFqzagAaAvfMEALw_wcB#idiq=4559219&edition=682751
(this is what my copy looks like)

[Bryan Simmons]

On Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 10:49:26 AM UTC-5, Lenona wrote:
> It's on page 284, in my edition. (1976, but the printing is from 1984.)
>

Another shitty recipe copied from wherever.

--Bryan

[jmcquown]

On 9/14/2022 11:49 AM, Lenona wrote:
> It's on page 284, in my edition. (1976, but the printing is from 1984.)
>
> 2 cups unsifted flour
> 1 tsp. baking soda
> 3/4 tsp. salt
> 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
> 1 tsp. ginger
> 1/4 tsp. cloves
> 1/4 cup sugar
> 1/2 cup wheat germ
> 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
> 3/4 cup molasses
> 1/3 cup oil or margarine
> 2 eggs, beaten
>
> Beat just until smooth. Pour into 9" x 9" greased pan.
>
> Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 F. Serve hot with applesauce blended with yogurt.
>

This is a tried and true recipe my mother used to make and I have made
myself. Yes, it calls for vegetable shortening rather than margarine or
oil. Substitutions of butter but anyone is free to try it.

Christina McQuown's Gingerbread:

2-1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. molasses
3/4 c. very warm (120°) water
1/2 c. vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 9X9 baking pan. Beat all
ingredients together in a large bowl using a mixer on low speed for 30
seconds, scraping sides of the bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed
for 3 minutes. Pour batter into pan. Bake about 50 minutes or until a
toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

My much later addition for a topping after I baked the gingerbread:

2 c. chilled whipping cream
1/4 c. clover honey
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Beat ingredients in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate 1
hour before serving.

Jill

[jmcquown]

On 9/14/2022 12:04 PM, itsjoan...@webtv.net wrote:

> Agree.

Leona seems to expect us to know these books and the authors of the
books and what page these recipes are on. It's all well and good to
post about old recipes but who else wants to click on those links?

Jill

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

On Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 6:52:18 PM UTC-5, j_mc...@comcast.net wrote:
>
> Leona seems to expect us to know these books and the authors of the
> books and what page these recipes are on. It's all well and good to
> post about old recipes but who else wants to click on those links?
>
> Jill
>

Or posts about some obscure 'chef/authors' death like we're going to have a
prayer circle for this unknown cook/author.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Wait, we're not? Now I have all the stuff I baked for after the
prayers. Guess I can freeze it.

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

Wrap them tightly and give them away at Christmas presents.

[Mike Duffy]

On 2022-09-15, Ed Pawlowski <e...@snet.xxx> wrote:

> Wait, we're not? Now I have all the stuff I baked for after the
> prayers. Guess I can freeze it.

Fear not! We can still do it here just by posting
'+1'. But to be fair, *everyone* will then need to
say a prayer and eat something.

[Michael Trew]

On 9/14/2022 11:49, Lenona wrote:
> It's on page 284, in my edition. (1976, but the printing is from 1984.)
>
> 2 cups unsifted flour
> 1 tsp. baking soda
> 3/4 tsp. salt
> 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
> 1 tsp. ginger
> 1/4 tsp. cloves
> 1/4 cup sugar
> 1/2 cup wheat germ
> 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
> 3/4 cup molasses
> 1/3 cup oil or margarine
> 2 eggs, beaten
>
> Beat just until smooth. Pour into 9" x 9" greased pan.
>
> Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 F. Serve hot with applesauce blended with yogurt.
>
> (I didn't bother with that last part. Also, some may want more sugar - but it was good enough.)
>
> Next gingerbread recipe I'll try will be from the one of the Great Depression books by Rita van Amber.

I've never made gingerbread, but my favorite Gingersnap cooky recipe
comes from a circa 1941 Better Homes/Gardens cook book. It makes way
too many dozen, but they freeze well.

I'm curious, as I've seen some recipes specify "unsifted flour", how
does one translate a cup of "unsifted flour" into "sifted flour"? My
flour dispenser sifts it as it comes out. I'm aware that this might
"aerate" the flour.

I typically measure and cook/bake by eye, so my sifted flour doesn't
bother me, but it makes some recipes a bit difficult. Perhaps I could
just round the cup off with sifted flour to equal a normal cup, or
should I be packing the sifted flour down into a measuring cup?

[Leonard Blaisdell]

On 2022-09-15, Michael Trew <michae...@att.net> wrote:

> I'm curious, as I've seen some recipes specify "unsifted flour", how
> does one translate a cup of "unsifted flour" into "sifted flour"? My
> flour dispenser sifts it as it comes out. I'm aware that this might
> "aerate" the flour.
>
> I typically measure and cook/bake by eye, so my sifted flour doesn't
> bother me, but it makes some recipes a bit difficult. Perhaps I could
> just round the cup off with sifted flour to equal a normal cup, or
> should I be packing the sifted flour down into a measuring cup?

Sifted flour is lighter, by the cup, than unsifted flour by a little.
Also, in the olden days when my Mom baked, sifted flour eliminated most
bug parts and rat turds. It still may.
We have real bakers in this group, but what I just said ain't a lie.
They'll give a better reason for you to sift now.

[Bruce]

On 15 Sep 2022 06:35:26 GMT, Leonard Blaisdell

In the Netherlands I used to buy flour in paper bags from a mill. If I
let it sit too long, I'd sometimes get bugs in the bag. Slow, dopey,
winged insects. I'd throw it all out if that happened.

[S Viemeister]

On 15/09/2022 07:35, Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
> On 2022-09-15, Michael Trew <michae...@att.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm curious, as I've seen some recipes specify "unsifted flour", how
>> does one translate a cup of "unsifted flour" into "sifted flour"? My
>> flour dispenser sifts it as it comes out. I'm aware that this might
>> "aerate" the flour.
>>
>> I typically measure and cook/bake by eye, so my sifted flour doesn't
>> bother me, but it makes some recipes a bit difficult. Perhaps I could
>> just round the cup off with sifted flour to equal a normal cup, or
>> should I be packing the sifted flour down into a measuring cup?
>
>
> Sifted flour is lighter, by the cup, than unsifted flour by a little.

And this is why I prefer to use scales for my baking. (Assuming I want
repeatable results, that is...)

[Lenona]

> Lenona seems to expect us to know these books and the authors of the

> books and what page these recipes are on. It's all well and good to
> post about old recipes but who else wants to click on those links?
>
> Jill

I'm pretty sure that particular book is still in print, which is a good long record for a cookbook.

If so, that's because the book is about a good deal more than just cooking. (See the reviews.)

And regarding the obituary posts...while most of the chefs/food writers are not as well known as, say, Anthony Bourdain or José Andrés, only about a dozen such people ARE, in the U.S. (Leaving out those who died more than five years ago.) Besides, anyone who gets an OBITUARY in the newspapers, as opposed to a tiny death notice of maybe two dozen words, is not exactly obscure.

At least one poster here was glad to get updated on a particular cookbook writer.

So I make no apologies for making such posts. Many of those people, living or dead, SHOULD be better known.

It reminds me of when I posted, elsewhere, about author Jane Langton's death (she's been called "America's Agatha Christie") and a contrary member there snidely claimed never to have heard of her. I suspect he was lying.

I also look forward to posting about Barbara Ninde Byfield's 100th anniversary, years from now - maybe by then, someone will find out how she died, back in 1988. She was amazingly diverse - and funny - in her writing and artwork; she wrote some unique and very good recipes, and in 1972, she collaborated with the legendary San Francisco humorist/journalist Herb Caen.

[Graham]

On 2022-09-15 7:20 a.m., heyjoe wrote:
> S Viemeister wrote :

>
>> And this is why I prefer to use scales for my baking. (Assuming I want
>> repeatable results, that is...)
>

> DING, Ding, ding! We have a winner.
>
> How much does a cup of flour weigh? It says right on the bag and a cup
> weighs differently, depending on the brand and type.

No! It's how you fill the cup and whether you aerate it first.

OTOH, The King
> Arthur Baking Book says a cup of flour weighs 4-1/2 ounces.

But somewhere on the site, they tell you how to fill the cup.
>
> There are two ingreients I always weigh - flour and brown sugar.
>
As Emeril Lagasse used to say: "Baking is chemistry. Weigh the
ingredients".

[Michael Trew]

On 9/15/2022 9:20, heyjoe wrote:
> S Viemeister wrote :
>

>> And this is why I prefer to use scales for my baking. (Assuming I want
>> repeatable results, that is...)
>

> DING, Ding, ding! We have a winner.
>
> How much does a cup of flour weigh? It says right on the bag and a cup

> weighs differently, depending on the brand and type. OTOH, The King

> Arthur Baking Book says a cup of flour weighs 4-1/2 ounces.
>

> There are two ingreients I always weigh - flour and brown sugar.

That sounds like more effort that I wish to put in. I might have a
postal scale somewhere, but I don't even know if I've ever seen a
kitchen scale before. If I can't eye-ball the amounts, it's probably
not something that I care to make on a regular basis. I don't need a
recipe or measuring cups for (American) biscuits, pastry dough, bread,
pizza dough, pasta, etc. If the dough is too wet, add a 'lil more flour.