Witchy Kitchen

Tag: molasses

  • Gingerbread

    Gingerbread

    Bored now.

    If Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my one of my all time favorite TV shows (and it is; Buffy has gotten me through some dark times), then Willow Rosenberg is one of my all time favorite characters. Maybe because she’s the closest representations of myself I’ve ever seen in fiction: nerdy, quiet, sweet, smart, witchy – and more darkly: selfish, controlling, with an addictive personality. If this post seems a little me-centric, it is, and I will point out that that too is Willowesque.

    Gingerbread is not a great, or even that good, episode of Buffy, but it’s one that I remember fondly and think back to often. Maybe because it’s one of the first ones I ever saw, and one of the reasons I started watching the original run, but also because the combination of fairy tales, creepy kids, Willow character development, and a hilarious line by Cordelia about her mom confiscating all her black clothes and scented candles make it a really entertaining one, one close to my little black heart.

    Also it’s the one where Amy turns into a rat.

    Gingerbread

    Adapted from King Arthur Flour

    • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon Witchy Autumn Spice Mix (or a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, etc.)
    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
    • 3/4 cup molasses
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
    • 1 egg
    • 1 cup buttermilk (or allow 1 cup milk with a 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sit for 10 minutes)
    • 1/4 cup water

    Heat oven to 350° and prepare a 9×9 baking pan.

    Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Pour in the melted butter, molasses, and honey (you can combine the molasses and honey in a measuring cup and heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to make it pour easily) and stir gently into the flour until moistened. Add ginger, beaten egg, buttermilk and water and stir gently until evenly combined.

    Pour into baking dish and bake for about 35 minutes (start checking around 33) until cake is pulling away from the edge of the pan.

    Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 23: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER in which Carrie and Diana discuss the cult TV show with various vampy concoctions – Happy Meals on legs, textured blood, yummy sushi, foamy nectar, and some really bad puns. #TeamSpike #Spiffy

  • Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    The day December hits, right on schedule, visions of Christmas cookies are dancing in my head. I love peanut blossoms, pretty linzer squares, chocolatey chili cookies – and especially a wintery spice cookie.

    I don’t have one that in particular that I normally make, so this caught my eye when I saw it: Carey Nershi’s Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52. It had me at black cardamom; which if green cardamom is the Queen of Spices, black cardamom is the sophisticated, mellowed, and camphorous Queen Mother. This recipe not only uses the seeds as part of the spices but infuses the butter with the pods.

    I have adapted nothing about this recipe – I EVEN procured bread flour when AP would probably suffice, but after some light Googling I learned bread flour is higher in protein and therefore yields chewier baked goods – but I wanted to share it because it’s spicy and lovely and will likely become a regular part of my Christmas cookie repertoire.

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    From Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52

    • 14 tablespoons butter
    • 1 cup bread flour
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • Spices: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
    • 5 black cardamom pods
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup molasses
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 cup sugar (for rolling)

    Crack open cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Grind seeds with a mortar and pestle and set aside.

    In a small saucepan, combine butter and empty cardamom pods and heat on medium low until butter is melted and slightly foamy. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 30 minutes.

    Remove the cardamom pods and transfer butter to a mixing bowl; let cool to room temperature.

    Whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, reserved cardamom and the rest of the spices.

    Add the sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

    Prepare a baking sheet with silpat or parchment and preheat oven to 375° F. Put 1/2 cup sugar for rolling in a small bowl. Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter, form into balls, and roll in the sugar. Place two inches apart on the baking sheet.

    Bake cookies in batches for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

    These were delicious straight from the oven, but chewier and even more delicious after a couple of days. Happy holidays!

  • Calabaza en Tacha

    Calabaza en Tacha

    October treats are not complete without something for the Mexican Day of the Dead, a remembrance of those that have passed, when families visit the graves to tend to them and make offerings. Calabaza en tacha is candied pumpkin (or in this case butternut squash), cooked in a brown sugar syrup then served with the syrup reduction and evaporated milk.

    I chose Spicie Foodies’ version of calabaza en tacha because of the lovely spices, but whereas she left her pumpkin in slices (which looks really pretty), my butternut squash wouldn’t have been uniform so I cut it up into chunks. I am not sure why this has brown sugar, sugar, and molasses…but it turned out delicious so who am I to ask questions?

    Calabaza en Tacha

    Recipe from Spicie Foodie

    • 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
    • 2 cups water
    • 2/3 cups brown sugar
    • 3 tbsp granulated sugar
    • 1 heaping tbsp molasses
    • pinch salt
    • zest of half an orange
    • 2 cinnamon sticks
    • 3 cardamom pods, bruised
    • 3 cloves
    • 3 allspice berries
    • evaporated milk for serving

    Bring water, sugars, and all spices to a soft boil. Lower the heat and add the squash, and simmer until very fork-tender (45 minutes to an hour).

    Strain out squash and spices with a slotted spoon, then turn up the heat and reduce the liquid to a syrup. Remove from heat. Serve squash drizzled with syrup and evaporated milk.

    I saw recipes using piloncillo, which is Mexican brown sugar – I’d love to get some to try. I also think this would be really nice made with jaggery.