Comments on: gramercy tavern’s gingerbread

By: Beki

Beki — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:53:13 +0000

It worked fantastically! I am sorry to say (well, pleased for myself) that I can’t help those having trouble because it came out beautifully by following the instructions. I ended up using one VERY long loaf pan (after verifying that it holds more than 12 cups) and it sank the tiniest bit after coming out, and it stuck a little in the middle, but I have a feeling it was due to the length and depth of the pan. Will butter and flour more next time to be sure. Thanks for the amazing recipe!

By: Joy in DC

Joy in DC — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:39:41 +0000

Gingerbread in chilly January is tasty. Most important thing learned: pay attention when Deb says to use a large saucepan for the beer and molasses. Let’s just say I wasn’t thinking, had an overflow situation and had to redo that step. Since I used a bundt, there didn’t seem to be much of a shrinkage situation. The exterior of my cake a day or two later is a tad moist, but in a chewy nice way. I didn’t use the confectioner sugar dusting for that reason (it woulda been too sticky I think). As always, thanks for sharing a yummy recipe!

By: kari

kari — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:23:45 +0000

It worked, it worked! I think I let the cake cool in the pan closer to ten minutes because I was distracted, but I greased and floured my Bundt pan and the cake popped out no problem. Thanks Deb!

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:11:14 +0000

Is NO ONE else having the problem of erupting and then sinkage? I’m like a dog on a bone with this recipe – it TASTES so GOOD but something “just ain’t right” – should I up or down the soda or baking powder? PLEASE someone help me out on this!

THANKS!

By: SQV

SQV — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:59:36 +0000

I love your site. Have lurked here for ages now, and the chocolate-stout cake has blown the socks off anyone I know well enough to willingly share it with.

Made this gorgeous cake yesterday [I loved bundts. Any food with a hole in it has a huge head start on others.] and it rocked.
But you already know that. What I originally came here to post was: I’m out of icing sugar, so I greased up the pan generously w/butter, then sprinkled it carefully with turbinado sugar [over the sink], starting with the centre tube. Cake came out no sweat [after 8-9mins of cooling] and had this glossly, slightly crunchy thing going for it. Mmmm. Thanks so much this kick-ass recipe!

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:05:50 +0000

I just made this for my housemate’s birthday. I modified the recipe a fair amount — used whole wheat flour and (to accommodate this) upped the amount of baking powder & baking soda, as well as adding an egg. I also used a “dark ale” instead of stout. I also try to limit sugar, so I did 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup agave and 1/3 cup maple syrup. I served it with homemade plum sauce — the sweet/tart added a great dimension.

Maybe I have just created a totally new recipe, but I got lots of moans of happiness and several, “Would you make cake more often?” requests.

So, thank you!

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:54:47 +0000

I made these for a pre-Christmas dinnertime get-together–but as cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They were INCREDIBLE! They did sink, so next time I might try a bit less baking powder, but I just filled in the dents with more frosting. It was a win-win, for sure.

The recipe made 12 cupcakes, for the record.

By: Alison M

Alison M — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:34:22 +0000

I made this for Christmas also and it was a big hit. I love how spicy it is. I buttered VERY generously and had no problems getting it out of my bundt pan. My guests were very impressed with how nice it looked, and how nice it tasted.

By: Annie S.

Annie S. — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:34:09 +0000

I made this for Christmas, and did not hold back when it came to the “butter and flour” moment. I was concerned about the same issue as Tracy, but the cake came out of the pan perfectly, with no flour marring it. I think the trick may be to VERY generously butter the pan–I used 1/3 cup of soft butter– and REALLY knock out the extra flour. I banged the pan against the sink I was shaking the flour into, and that did the job. The recipe overall was straightforward–I was able to make it in the middle of Christmas preparations without losing my mind, and it was LOVED by all ten dinner guests. Out of necessity, I served it about six hours after it came out of the oven and it was great. And, three days later, the last sliver was great.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:43:58 +0000

I made this for Christmas Eve dinner to go with the vanilla-roasted pears (see post there). My seven-year-old nephew, who I expected to either spit it out if he was tired and cranky or decline to eat it if he was on his best behavior for Santa, asked for seconds! This is almost unprecedented, and attests to the deliciousness of this recipe.

I had no sinkage, but I was a bit overenthusiastic about the buttering and flouring of the pan, and ended up with a few floury spots on the surface. A sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar solved that problem, though. Thanks for another great recipe, Deb!