Gingerbread with Spiced Crème Anglaise
Ingredients:
For Gingerbread:
1 stick butter
1 cup turbinado style sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon cloves, ground
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1 cup dark molasses
1 cup Alaskan Stout
Confectioners sugar, for dusting
For Spiced Crème Anglaise:
2 cups heavy cream
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 large egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
Instructions:
To make cake:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 inch cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and set aside.In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. In a third bowl, combine the molasses and beer and stir to dissolve. Add the dry ingredients and beer mixture alternately to the egg mixture, beating after the addition of each.Pour into the prepared pan and bake until puffed and set, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.To make Spiced Crème AnglaiseCombine the cream and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat.In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and frothy, about 2 minutes. Slowly drizzle in ½ cup of the hot cream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the warm cream and stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve warm (Or to serve chilled, place in an ice bath to cool, then cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours).