We have a ridiculous amount of ginger related products in our kitchen at the moment. Every time I opened the pantry cupboard, I can’t help but laugh at the sight of packets of gingersnaps, chewy ginger biscuits, ginger tablets, candied ginger, crystallised ginger and ground ginger.

Most of it was purchased recently by B who had bought himself a Playstation 3 for his birthday and then discovered that one of the games caused him to suffer from motion sickness. I used to feel nauseous as well when playing Doom and Heretic. Gosh, remember those classic games? I had a conversation with someone about games a couple of months ago, and was surprised that he didn’t know what Doom was. Ah heck, now I’m really showing my age, aren’t I!

Anyway, B read that eating ginger is apparently a natural way of reducing nausea, and subsequently went out and bought what seems to be every conceivable ginger product available – excepting ginger beer, which he categorically doesn’t like. Funnily enough, he has barely touched any of his purchases, which means the task has been left to me to expand my waistline by plowing through the biscuits and candied ginger (which I absolutely love).

Which is why I’ve also been inspired to contribute to our ginger tally with this spice cake by Michel Bras. His recipe (below) doesn’t contain any ginger, but in the spirit of things, I altered it slightly to include candied ginger as well as ground ginger.

As soon as this cake came out of the oven, I made myself a cup of tea and sampled a slice. It was wonderfully spicy and not very sweet. Michel Bras calls it a “quiet pleasure, a relaxation, a special moment, with a taste of spices that carry you away to a sunny land”. A heart-warming and very apt description indeed!

Ginger and Le Pain aux Epices is my contribution to this week’s WHB, hosted by Joanna of Joanna’s Food.

Le Pain aux Epices :
(from The Notebooks of Michel Bras, by Michel Bras)

100g honey
100g sugar
75g butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
30g candied orange peels
4 orange zests
4 lemon zests
110g rye flour
110g flour
20g baking soda
1 teaspoon (3g) anise seed
18g cinnamon
9g nutmeg
2g cloves
45g slivered almonds

Grind the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

In a saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, butter and water. Melt over low heat. Let cool and set aside.

Mince the candied orange peels and the zests. Then, mix with a little flour.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, powdered spices, and anise seed. Add the minced peels and zest. Gradually add the honey mixture. Beat for 10 minutes. Add the almonds.

Butter a 22cm aluminium pan and dust with flour. Fill it with batter, cover with a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes in preheated 160’C oven. Remove the baking sheet and continue to bake 45 to 60 minutes at 150’C. During baking, when the cake begins to form a crust, make a 1cm lengthwise cut to help the cake develop more fully. Insert a skewer to check that the cake is done.

As soon as it comes out of the oven take it out of the pan and let cool on a rack. At this point, the cake will freeze well.

I’ve never been very good at having a measured, balanced existence. For example, I have a bad habit of letting work take over my life. Sometimes I get so deeply involved in my job that it automatically takes precedence over anything else I should also be doing. This week I hadn’t given myself enough time to plan ahead for B’s birthday which fell on Tuesday. On the day, I got home late from work and we celebrated with microwaved soup, a replay of the Netherlands vs Italy Euro Cup match, and much later, a piece of chocolate cake that Calamari had made for B. Not really how it should have all panned out, I’m afraid!

So I’m trying to make up for my lack of celebratory gestures with a little gift. Chocolate is one of B’s favourite flavours essential food groups. Whenever we eat out, I don’t even bother looking at the chocolate option on the dessert menu, because I know he’ll order it anyway (unless it’s freakishly overloaded with all sorts of unfriendly dairy products). These cupcakes which I’m calling Textures of Chocolate Cupcakes, feature chocolate in various forms : cake, ganache, cocoa nib brownie cookie, salted chocolate caramel and crunchy chocolate soil. If you can manage one bite to encompass all the different components, you will hopefully experience the sensation of silky, moist, moussey, crumbly, crispy, crunchy, melting, creamy, goey and chewy textures all at once. But each component tastes good on it’s own too. The chocolate cake is by Rose Levy Berenbaum and is one of my favourites. Rose’s mother describes it as tasting just like a chocolate bar. Which can hardly be a bad thing, can it!

Happy belated Birthday, B! 🙂

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
— Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley.

Damn brownies!

Every time I think I’m over brownies (too rich, too chocolate, too over the top..) I suddenly discover new reasons to love them again. If it’s not the depressing weather (rain and more rain) or an exhausting new job that makes you feel like you need a pick-me-up, the brownie is always there, waiting to lift you up like a schmaltzy Rick Astley song.

Then, every time I think I’ve finally found my ultimate brownie recipe, I stumble across one that is amazing enough to warrant a little bit of trumpeting to the world at large.

This one by Alice Medrich, is my Rick Astley brownie. It also happens to feature a little extra something I have been using a lot of lately : cacao (or cocoa) nibs. These nibs are actually the beans from the cacao plant which have been roasted and lightly crushed. They have a beautiful bittersweet flavour and a texture reminiscent of coffee beans, and are fabulous added to biscuits and brownies especially due to the crunch factor. The nibs can also be used to infuse a milk for a pannacotta, or a custard to make ice-cream. In fact, you could sprinkle them onto almost anything, for a bit of a sugar-free cocoa hit.

As for the brownies? Well, they are definitely on my list of greatest hits because they are meltingly moist inside, with a crisp shell on top that stayed crisp even a few days after the brownie was baked.

Cacao nibs and bittersweet brownies are my contribution to this week’s WHB, hosted by Maninas of Food Matters.

Nibby Bittersweet Brownies :
(from Pure Dessert, by Alice Medrich)

226g 70% bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
90g unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
3 large eggs
225g sugar
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
34g plain flour
3 tablespoons cacao nibs

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 176’C. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with baking paper. [I usually line with excess paper rising at least 2cm above the top of the pan. This will help you ease and lift the cooked brownie out of the pan]

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set in a wide skillet of almost-simmering water. Stir frequently until the mixture is melted and smooth and quite warm. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla with a hand-held mixer on high speed until the eggs are thick and light coloured, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the warm chocolate. Fold in the flour. Stir in two tablespoons of the cacao nibs.

Scrape the batter into the lined pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cacao nibs over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack.

Invert the brownies on a rack and peel off the paper. Turn right side up on a cutting board and cut into sixteen 2-inch squares. [Gripping the excess paper, I lifted the brownie out of the tin, rather than invert it, because I didn’t want to ruin any of the beautiful crust that had formed on top of the brownie]