Warm Spice Ginger Cakes

So, it's Sunday night and I've been hankering to bake since Friday afternoon. First, Friday just kind of got away from me. Then Saturday I had a get together with my local Nestie friends in the first half of the day and then was struck down with exhaustion and general icky feelings after I got home. Today I got a bunch of stuff done in the morning and was determined to bake something tasty in the afternoon!

I bought some molasses for no good reason the other day and wanted to use it for my baking adventure. Man, there are a lot of ginger snap cookie recipes out there and I didn't want to use any of them!! I did however find a tasty treat from AllRecipes for a cake/ brownie type thing. Soooo yummy! All the spices made the house smell just delicious.

I did have an issue with the middle being very smooshy and not quite cooked. I was afraid the edges would get too hard. After I took it out of the oven, I cut out the edges to put on the cooling rack and then baked the rest for an extra couple of minutes. I think the entire thing would have been fine had I left it all in for another 4 minutes like the recipe told me to.


Ginger Cakes
From AllRecipes.com

• 1 C. Shortening
  
• 1 C. Sugar
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 C. Water
  
• 1/2 C. Molasses
  
• 2 1/2 C. Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp. Cloves
  
• 1/2 tsp. Ginger
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar, occasionally using a rubber spatula to clean the sides of the bowl.
   
3. Add in the eggs and beat until smooth.
   
4. Mix in the water and molasses, again beating just until smooth.
   
5. In a separate bowl (or not- I never do) add in the remaining dry ingredients. Blend until batter is smooth. Again, clean the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
   
6. Grease a 15" x 10" baking dish. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
   
7. Slice in pan and remove to cooling rack until ready to eat.