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Picnic Gingerbread
3/4 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 1 cup molasses 3 eggs 1 cup sour milk 4 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons soda 2 teaspoons ginger 1/2 teaspoon salt Cream shortening, add sugar, then eggs unbeaten and beat all well together. Combine molasses and sour milk, add alternately to first mixture with the sifted dry ingredients. Bake in greased loaf pan, moderate 350 degrees oven about 40 minutes. Carry to picnic in the loaf pan.
A big, moist molasses gingerbread built for transport — the batter is roughly double what a single loaf pan will hold, so plan the pan before you start.
- Pan sizeFour cups of flour plus a cup each of molasses and sour milk makes something on the order of 7 to 8 cups of batter, more than a single 9x5 loaf pan will hold. Use a 9x13 pan or two 9x5 loaf pans. The recipe's 40 minutes at 350F is a starting point; timing will shift with the pan, so test early.
- Sour milkThis means naturally soured whole milk, which no longer exists in a refrigerated carton. Use buttermilk cup for cup, or stir 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup whole milk and let it stand 10 minutes. The acid is what the soda reacts with.
- SodaTwo teaspoons is a generous amount, but both the sour milk and the molasses are acidic, so there is plenty for the soda to react with. Sift it thoroughly with the flour or you may get bitter, dark-yellow streaks.
- Bread flourBread flour was a standard pantry flour when this was written; the extra gluten may be why it suits a cake meant to be carried and sliced. All-purpose works and gives a tenderer, more crumbly cake.
- ShorteningIn this period 'shortening' could mean hydrogenated vegetable shortening, lard, or another solid fat. Butter substitutes at the same volume, though the crumb will be slightly firmer once cool.
- MolassesUse unsulphured dark molasses, not blackstrap, which is far more bitter than what was in a 1930s pantry, and not sorghum syrup.
- Unbeaten eggsAdding the eggs whole to the creamed shortening and sugar and beating well is a standard method of the period. Beat until the mixture lightens and looks smooth rather than curdled.
- Doneness and yieldA skewer in the center should come out clean and the top spring back; molasses cakes look underdone at the edges of the crack. Cools in the pan, slices better the second day, and gives roughly 16 to 20 squares.