Ginger Beer

Yet another utterly unrelated post to baking. Ginger beer. I grew up on this stuff, not like the ginger ale here in America but this burningly good ginger extravaganza. 

We made this baby at school, after we tasted some really good stuff the quarter before us had made which didn't taste boozy at all. However, when we tested the stuff we made, it was incredibly beery...not so good in my book. I want the burn of ginger not of alcohol. 

The chef in charge said that it was probably because the natural yeast/bacteria in the beer had consumed all the sugar, so there wasn't a heap left. I'm guessing the solution would be to add more sugar. 

Hopefully the stuff I'm making at home will work our - I still have nearly a week to go before I can try it out, so fingers are a crossed. 

Once again, ginger beer is relying on the natural bacteria that our environment breeds. So a week before I bottled this baby, I simply grated ginger into water, added some sugar for food and let it sit at room temp (covered in cheese cloth) for about a week feeding it (with more ginger and sugar) every couple of days. This is called a ginger bug. Then you simply cook grated ginger in water, add sugar and let it cool. Add the ginger bug and dilute the solution with some water. Clean out some bottles, pop in the ginger and thats it. Sit and wait for a couple of weeks and you should hopefully have something resembling tastiness, but you never know...

Thank you Josh for the picts on this one!

Mini Mix Tarts Cranberry, Raspberry, Pear, Ginger and Clove

I had a lot of cranberries left over from the bundt cake and so I decided to make a small tart using them and some pears that had lingered a tad too long in our kitchen. I also had a smidge left of the pate sucre, so I simply rolled it out, popped it in small tart pans, and baked them until golden brown. 

The filling was stewed pears, cranberries, raspberries, a little bit of finely chopped ginger, a splash of pear liquor, some cloves, a bunch of sugar and a thyme sprig that was removed once I had finished simmering the filling. The consistency was like that of a jam, and so I added a little bit of corn starch to thicken it. I popped it into the ready shells, garnished with finely chopped ginger and a sprig of thyme. Easy as that. 

The tarts were well, tart but the combination of the sugary, buttery sucre meant that they weren't an unpleasant tart. I was quite pleased with these. 

Lekach: Old-Fashioned Honey Cake

This recipe makes two loaves. This is a dry, slightly sweet bread-like cake. It has some textural differentiation due to the ginger and walnuts (you don't have to have either in this recipe) and as it is a rather dry cake it pairs well with tea or coffee.

Ingredients
6.25 cups of plain flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1.5 cups packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup honey

1 Tbs. salt

2/3 cup strong hot coffee

3 large eggs

1.5 cups walnuts pieces

1.5 cups chopped crystallized ginger

Method

1. Oil two 9x5inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder and baking soda.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together the brown sugar, oil, honey, salt, and hot coffee. Mix until the brown sugar is dissolved.

4. Add the eggs to the brown sugar and coffee mixture, whisk until well blended.

5. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.

6. Fold in the nuts and ginger.

7. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula, and if you desire sprinkle some crystallized ginger across the top for decoration.

8. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8-24 hours.

9. Preheat oven to 325F.

10. Bake the cakes for 1 hour (at 30 min turn the cakes around so that even baking is achieved), or until well browned and when a thin knife is inserted in the center it comes out clean.

11. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack, then remove from the pan.

These cakes keep for weeks wrapped in plastic in the fridge.

Taken from "A Blessing of Bread: Recipes and Rituals, Memories and Mitzvahs" by Maggie Glezer pp.153-5.