I rarely post indulgent recipes because at hungry poodle we’re all about “healthy living without the bite.” However, healthy living means that we can and should enjoy everything in moderation.
With that introduction, I offer you the Bennett family’s traditional Christmas dessert, adapted from Gourmet Magazine. Best. Gingerbread. Ever. With a cup of Guinness Stout in it, how could it miss?
If you choose to make this amazing cake, I suggest making it the day before serving to give the intense ginger and molasses flavors ample time to marry. Like the best fruitcake*, this gingerbread just gets better with time.
1 cup Guinness Stout 1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap) 1/2 t. baking soda 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 t. baking powder 2 T. ground ginger 1 t. ground cinnamon 1/4 t. ground cloves 1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg Pinch of ground cardamom 3 large eggs 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup vegetable oil Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 12″ bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature. (It will foam up when you add the baking soda, hence the need for a large pan.)
Sift together flour, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk the oil into the egg/sugar mixture, then add the cooled stout/molasses. Add to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Dust cake with powdered sugar.
If possible, let the cake rest a day before serving. It lasts for days when stored airtight and only gets better and better, until, sadly, it’s gone.
*Fruitcake has been unfairly maligned for generations. If you’ve ever had real, homemade fruitcake steeped in brandy, you know what I mean. As Lucy from the Peanuts cartoon once said, “It’s my opinion and it’s very true.”