Home › Sandwiches and Different Breads › Gingerbread and Cheese Ribbons
Gingerbread and Cheese Ribbons
1 loaf gingerbread 1/2 cup butter 6 ounces cream cheese 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup nut meats, chopped Bake gingerbread in a loaf. When cold, slice the length of the loaf, using a very sharp knife. Spread slices with butter, then with mixture of other ingredients, mixed together. Place slices on top of each other, press together and chill. When ready to serve, cut slices from across the end.
A tea-table ribbon sandwich built from a gingerbread loaf rather than white bread. The whole thing hinges on the loaf being cold, firm and at least a day old, or the lengthwise slices will tear.
- Bake and rest the loafUse any dark molasses gingerbread baked in a loaf pan; the recipe specifies no temperature. Cool completely, and preferably wrap and hold it overnight. Fresh, warm gingerbread is too tender to slice horizontally.
- Slicing lengthwiseCut the loaf into horizontal slabs with a long, very sharp knife as directed, sawing rather than pressing. Steadying the loaf with your palm flat on top helps keep the blade level.
- Cream cheeseSix ounces is three-quarters of a modern 8 oz block. Bring it fully to room temperature and beat it smooth before adding the mayonnaise, or it will drag the spice cake apart.
- Why butter firstThe 1/2 cup of butter, softened and spread thin on each cut face, is a moisture barrier. Skip it and the mayonnaise soaks into the crumb overnight and the layers slump.
- Nut meatsPecans or walnuts, chopped fine rather than coarse. Large pieces make the stack slip when you cut it and leave gaps in the finished stripe.
- Pressing and chillingReassemble, wrap the whole block firmly in plastic, and weight it with a small board or a plate for at least two hours in the refrigerator. Chilled solid, it cuts cleanly; at room temperature it does not.
- YieldA 9-inch loaf in four layers gives roughly sixteen to twenty half-inch slices, each showing dark cake alternating with pale filling. Cut them cold and serve within a couple of hours.