Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

id="recipetitle"class="fn">Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

As I've previously mentioned, when invited over to someone's house for dinner, etc. I am often asked to provide the dessert. Sometimes the decision regarding what to bring is simple, and that's to go with a recipe tried and true. Other times I use it as an opportunity to experiment with something new. However, there is the rare occasion when I am provided with a dietary challenge. Bring it on! Said challenge; lactose intolerance. Then I discovered quickly how few recipes exist sans some form of milk (butter was at least doable).

Just when I was about to abandon my search and tell him to suck it up and get some lactaid it came to me - gingerbread! Freaking genius right? WRONG. My internal celebration was quickly put to an end when I remembered it was June. How could I possibly get away with serving gingerbread in June? HELLER put a lemon sauce on it, citrus transforms all into a summery delight!
 

INGREDIENTS

Cake
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Sauce
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup water
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice


DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

 

2) In mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg. Mix in the molasses.

 

3) In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add the dry ingredients to your mixer and blend. Stir in the hot water and then pour into your pan.

 

4) Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from the pan.

 

5) In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch with the cup of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it boils and begins to thicken. Continue to boil for one minute and then remove from the heat. It should coat the back of the spoon at this point. Stir in the lemon peel and juice. Serve over the gingerbread. 

 

 

I have to admit I'd had a bottle of wine before it came time to eat this. But the bottom line is that this recipe is indeed a winner, and I did some winning of my own later that evening as a result. Was that my outside voice?