Random fact about molasses: When visiting the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County, VA, the guide told us (I think I was in 4th grade when my class went) that when Booker T. Washington would be given a little bit of molasses as a treat as a child, he would let it spread all over his plate to make it appear to be more than it really was. That's how special molasses is.
No, I didn't make treacle tarts, which I think are similar to chess pies (even though I am a proud Southerner, I do not like chess pie). What else has molasses in it? Gingerbread!
Ah, I remember going to Colonial Williamsburg's Raleigh Tavern Bakery and gobbling up their "ginger cakes." When I saw that they had a cookbook, I snatched it up, only to find that the modern adaption for the recipe turned out to be gingerbread cookies, not little cakes. Disappointing.
Okay, so I did some tweaking to a recipe from the cookbook mentioned in the cheesecake post. Channeling the "Ginger Ninja" (a friend from undergrad) I doubled the ginger. It just didn't look like enough, if it's "ginger" bread, it should have more ginger than cinnamon (the recipe called for equal amounts of each). Also, I used dark brown sugar instead of regular sugar, since this is all about the molasses. I am waiting for it to cool down for the final inspection. Will it be as good as the colonial ginger cakes? We'll see.
