Molasses and Gingerbread - a Question

On Sun 20 Nov 2005 05:06:36a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Rhonda
Anderson?

> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas for
> our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me decorate
> it. It's intended to be eaten, not just for display, and I've found a
> recipe on a gingerbread house site which is supposed to be a good
> compromise between stability and tastiness!
>
> The recipe calls for molasses, but the only molasses I've ever seen for
> sale here is blackstrap molasses on sale in health food shops. I had my
> doubts about whether this would be suitable, as I remember using it in
> something years ago, and the result wasn't very nice. The blackstrap is
> rather bitter and strong tasting, IIRC. I did a bit of a Google search
> and found a number of mentions of blackstrap molasses being used in
> gingerbread, and an equal number of recipes for gingerbread men etc.
> specifically stating _not_ to use blackstrap molasses.
>
> So, I'm after some advice.
>
> 1. I'm still looking around for recipes, in books and on the net.If
> anyone here has a tried and true recipe for a good tasting gingerbread
> dough, suitable for making a gingerbread house, I'd love to see it.

I can't help here, as I only bake gingerbread "cake".

> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the right
> sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
> substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.

For my taste, blackstrap molasses is much too strong and bitter. I'd go
with the treacle. If you can't find other molasses, this would be the best
choice.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:

> gingerbread, and an equal number of recipes for gingerbread men etc.
> specifically stating _not_ to use blackstrap molasses.
>
> So, I'm after some advice.
>
> 1. I'm still looking around for recipes, in books and on the net.If
> anyone here has a tried and true recipe for a good tasting gingerbread
> dough, suitable for making a gingerbread house, I'd love to see it.
>
> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the right
> sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
> substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.
>
> Thanks
>
> Rhonda Anderson
> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Rhonda, I've used honey for part of the molasses in my rye bread recipe.
I don't know from treacle.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas for
> our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me decorate

When are you planning to bake this?
I've never known them to be eaten; only decorated and sometimes saved
for a couple years. Iced with Royal Icing (no fat).
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

On Sun 20 Nov 2005 06:10:33a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Melba's
Jammin'?

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas for
>> our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me decorate
>
> When are you planning to bake this?
> I've never known them to be eaten; only decorated and sometimes saved
> for a couple years. Iced with Royal Icing (no fat).

LOL! You could break a tooth on some Royal Icing. It's like cement.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

Rhonda Anderson wrote:

> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the right
> sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
> substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.


I've liked the taste of blackstrap molasses mixed with white sugar. The
taste/stability question is harder since anything stiff enough to build
with is likely too hard to chew. Could you choose a good-tasting cookie
recipe, add extra flour and bake a tad longer to make it harder? Or
another compromise: Choose a good-tasting cookie recipe, follow it
exactly and bake half into cookies. Then add extra flour to the other
half of the dough, and build with it.


I've NOT built with this but have made these cookies often and love the
way they come out. (Adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.)


1 stick butter
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger (It is worth it to the flavor to
make this fresh.)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphered molasses


1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
a pinch of cloves
a pinch of nutmeg
(Honestly, I just throw in some sweet spices and don't measure.)
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder


1 1/2 tsp. boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda


7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I vary this. Sometimes I've used
raisins or walnuts, even grated coconut.)


1/4 cup white sugar.


1. Soften the butter and beat with the brown sugar, molasses and ginger.


2. Sift the flour and dried spices together and add half into the
butter. (I measure straight into a strainer and hold over the mixing
bowl with the butter. I don't bother sifting into a separate bowl.)


3. Disolve the baking powder into the water. (I use the microwave to
boil the water.) Add to the butter.


4. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix.


5. Add the chips.


6. Roll into walnut sized balls. Flatten while pressing into the sugar.


7. Bake on parchment paper at 325 degrees until the surface begins to
crack.

Rhonda Anderson wrote:
> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas
>
> The recipe calls for molasses, but the only molasses I've ever seen for
> sale here is blackstrap molasses on sale in health food shops.
>
> So, I'm after some advice.
>
> dough, suitable for making a gingerbread house, I'd love to see it.
>
> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the right
> sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
> substitute? Would treacle work?

Dark treacle is not quite the correct flavor for gingerbread but
acceptible if you can't locate dark molasses.

molasses [muh-LAS-sihz]
During the refining of sugar cane and sugar beets, the juice squeezed
from these plants is boiled to a syrupy mixture from which sugar
crystals are extracted. The remaining brownish-black liquid is
molasses. Light molasses comes from the first boiling of the sugar
syrup and is lighter in both flavor and color. It's often used as a
pancake and waffle syrup. Dark molasses comes from a second boiling and
is darker, thicker and less sweet than light molasses. It's generally
used as a flavoring in American classics such as GINGERBREAD, SHOOFLY
PIE, INDIAN PUDDING and BOSTON BAKED BEANS. Blackstrap molasses comes
from the third boiling and is what amounts to the dregs of the barrel.
It's very thick, dark and somewhat bitter. Though it's popular with
health-food followers, it's more commonly used as a cattle food.
Contrary to what many believe, blackstrap is not a nutritional panacea.
In truth, it's only fractionally richer than the other types of
molasses in iron, calcium and phosphorus and many of its minerals are
not assimilable. Sorghum molasses is the syrup produced from the cereal
grain SORGHUM. Whether or not molasses is sulphured or unsulphured
depends on whether sulphur was used in the processing. In general,
unsulphured molasses is lighter and has a cleaner sugar-cane flavor.
Light and dark molasses are available in supermarkets; blackstrap is
more readily found in health-food stores. See also TREACLE.

treacle
[TREE-kuhl]
A term used mainly in Great Britain for the syrupy by-product created
during sugar refining. There are two types: dark treacle - which is
very much like MOLASSES and which has a somewhat bitter taste, and
light treacle, which contains fewer impurities than the dark variety,
has a lighter flavor and is also called GOLDEN SYRUP.

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD
LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

Sheldon

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas for
> our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me decorate
> it. It's intended to be eaten, not just for display, and I've found a
> recipe on a gingerbread house site which is supposed to be a good
> compromise between stability and tastiness!
>
> The recipe calls for molasses, but the only molasses I've ever seen for
> sale here is blackstrap molasses on sale in health food shops. I had my

Rhonda, bag the gingerbread in favor of -- what do you have that's like
our graham crackers? Ours our rectangular and flat and lend themselves
to being glued together with royal icing. Might not be sturdy enough
for heavy candy accessories, though,.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 12:06:36 GMT, Rhonda Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>1. I'm still looking around for recipes, in books and on the net.If
>anyone here has a tried and true recipe for a good tasting gingerbread
>dough, suitable for making a gingerbread house, I'd love to see it.

Since blackstrap is what is easily available here, I use it. Tastes
good in gingerbread cookies, but can be too strong for other things.

>2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the right
>sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
>substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.

Treacle should be a fine substitute. I like to put that on graham
crackers. :9
---
[email protected]

"Fountain of youth? We have enough youth, what we need is a fountain of smart..." -seen on a bumper sticker

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas
>> for our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me
>> decorate
>
> When are you planning to bake this?
> I've never known them to be eaten; only decorated and sometimes saved
> for a couple years. Iced with Royal Icing (no fat).

I've found from my web searches, and an American book I borrowed from the
library, that they are often made just as decoration, with no intention
of being eaten. I saw that there were quite a few gingerbread house
competitions in the US. I don't know if there are any such competitions
here. I also don't know that there's such a tradition of making them
purely for decoration. I personally can't see the point to making a house
out of food items if I don't intend to eat it! I'd make it out of less
edible items if that were the case, I think.

Anyhow, the last couple of years my sister has purchased one and we've
broken it up on Christmas Day. They were definitely edible. If I do make
one, it will be mostly for the fun of decorating it, I think! and having
some gingerbread and royal icing (which I like). I would be making it
fairly close to Christmas Day. It can get fairly humid here in summer,
and I believe humidity is a major cause of collapsing houses!

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas
>> for our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me
>> decorate
>
> When are you planning to bake this?
> I've never known them to be eaten; only decorated and sometimes saved
> for a couple years. Iced with Royal Icing (no fat).

I've found from my web searches, and an American book I borrowed from the
library, that they are often made just as decoration, with no intention
of being eaten. I saw that there were quite a few gingerbread house
competitions in the US. I don't know if there are any such competitions
here. I also don't know that there's such a tradition of making them
purely for decoration. I personally can't see the point to making a house
out of food items if I don't intend to eat it! I'd make it out of less
edible items if that were the case, I think.

Anyhow, the last couple of years my sister has purchased one and we've
broken it up on Christmas Day. They were definitely edible. If I do make
one, it will be mostly for the fun of decorating it, I think! and having
some gingerbread and royal icing (which I like). I would be making it
fairly close to Christmas Day. It can get fairly humid here in summer,
and I believe humidity is a major cause of collapsing houses!

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Julia Altshuler <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Rhonda Anderson wrote:
>
>> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the
>> right sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
>> substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.
>
>
> I've liked the taste of blackstrap molasses mixed with white sugar.
> The taste/stability question is harder since anything stiff enough to
> build with is likely too hard to chew. Could you choose a
> good-tasting cookie recipe, add extra flour and bake a tad longer to
> make it harder?

That's probably a good idea. I did find a recipe on a gingerbread house
site, which they say bakes a stiff enough biscuit to build with, but
still tastes good to eat. In my favour, I suppose, is that I don't need
the house to stay in one piece for a long period of time. Working
against me is the fact that it's usually fairly humid here in summer.

However, I figure the worst that's going to happen is that we eat
gingerbread ruins <g>.

Thanks for the recipe.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Julia Altshuler <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Rhonda Anderson wrote:
>
>> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the
>> right sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
>> substitute? Would treacle work? I can buy that at the supermarket.
>
>
> I've liked the taste of blackstrap molasses mixed with white sugar.
> The taste/stability question is harder since anything stiff enough to
> build with is likely too hard to chew. Could you choose a
> good-tasting cookie recipe, add extra flour and bake a tad longer to
> make it harder?

That's probably a good idea. I did find a recipe on a gingerbread house
site, which they say bakes a stiff enough biscuit to build with, but
still tastes good to eat. In my favour, I suppose, is that I don't need
the house to stay in one piece for a long period of time. Working
against me is the fact that it's usually fairly humid here in summer.

However, I figure the worst that's going to happen is that we eat
gingerbread ruins <g>.

Thanks for the recipe.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

"Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> Rhonda Anderson wrote:
>> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas
>>
>> The recipe calls for molasses, but the only molasses I've ever seen
>> for sale here is blackstrap molasses on sale in health food shops.
>>
>> So, I'm after some advice.
>>
>> dough, suitable for making a gingerbread house, I'd love to see it.
>>
>> 2. If I do use a recipe that calls for molasses is blackstrap the
>> right sort to use? If not, what do you think would be an appropriate
>> substitute? Would treacle work?
>
> Dark treacle is not quite the correct flavor for gingerbread but
> acceptible if you can't locate dark molasses.
>

OK, thanks. I'll look around and see if I can find dark molasses, but
the treacle is easy to find. Most gingerbread man type recipes in
cookbooks here that I've seen or tried call for golden syrup or honey,
so they're quite light coloured.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'm going to be attempting to make a gingerbread house this Christmas
>> for our little family gathering - aiming for my nephews to help me
>> decorate it. It's intended to be eaten, not just for display, and
>> I've found a recipe on a gingerbread house site which is supposed to
>> be a good compromise between stability and tastiness!

> Rhonda, bag the gingerbread in favor of -- what do you have that's
> like our graham crackers? Ours our rectangular and flat and lend
> themselves to being glued together with royal icing. Might not be
> sturdy enough for heavy candy accessories, though,.

I know the graham crackers - I've seen them in parcels at work, and
someone sent me some once so I've even gotten to try them (Nancy Dooley,
IIRC). I really can't think of anything equivalent here. The only biscuit
type things that I can think of in that sort of shape are crackers and
crispbreads.

Good idea, though. During my Googling I did see mentions of gingerbread
houses made of graham crackers.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
(snippage)
>
> > Rhonda, bag the gingerbread in favor of -- what do you have that's
> > like our graham crackers? Ours our rectangular and flat and lend
> > themselves to being glued together with royal icing. Might not be
> > sturdy enough for heavy candy accessories, though,.
>
> I know the graham crackers - I've seen them in parcels at work, and
> someone sent me some once so I've even gotten to try them (Nancy Dooley,
> IIRC). I really can't think of anything equivalent here. The only biscuit
> type things that I can think of in that sort of shape are crackers and
> crispbreads.
>
> Good idea, though. During my Googling I did see mentions of gingerbread
> houses made of graham crackers.
>
> Rhonda Anderson
> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Use a sharp knife for cutting doors and windows -- light pressure
several times over the same place so as to not crack the rest of the
'wall'.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:
(snippage)
> Anyhow, the last couple of years my sister has purchased one and we've
> broken it up on Christmas Day. They were definitely edible. If I do make
> one, it will be mostly for the fun of decorating it, I think! and having
> some gingerbread and royal icing (which I like). I would be making it
> fairly close to Christmas Day. It can get fairly humid here in summer,
> and I believe humidity is a major cause of collapsing houses!

Here, too, if it rains hard enough. "-)
>
> Rhonda Anderson
> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> For my taste, blackstrap molasses is much too strong and bitter. I'd go
> with the treacle. If you can't find other molasses, this would be the best
> choice.
>

The treacle I've gotten is not near as mild and the typical USian
supermarket molasses. I'd cut treacle half with golden syrup.
blacksalt

In article <[email protected]>,
Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:

> > When are you planning to bake this?
> > I've never known them to be eaten; only decorated and sometimes saved
> > for a couple years. Iced with Royal Icing (no fat).

> some gingerbread and royal icing (which I like). I would be making it
> fairly close to Christmas Day. It can get fairly humid here in summer,
> and I believe humidity is a major cause of collapsing houses!
>
> Rhonda Anderson
> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

I've got Bre'r Rabbit, both flavors, boxed and ready for the post office
tomorrow. Do you have a tin you could store the components in after
they're baked? Maybe with a dessicant? Give you a leg up on it.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-19-05 - Shiksa Varnishkes.

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Rhonda Anderson <[email protected]> wrote:

>> some gingerbread and royal icing (which I like). I would be making it
>> fairly close to Christmas Day. It can get fairly humid here in summer,
>> and I believe humidity is a major cause of collapsing houses!
>>
>> Rhonda Anderson
>> Cranebrook, NSW, Australia
>
> I've got Bre'r Rabbit, both flavors, boxed and ready for the post office
> tomorrow. Do you have a tin you could store the components in after
> they're baked? Maybe with a dessicant? Give you a leg up on it.

Your blood's worth bottlin'! Thank you very, very much. I do have a tin I
can use to store them, and dessiccant's a great idea. When it's all done
and decorated I'll have to send you photos.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia