Austin Bakes for Bastrop – Sticky Gingerbread Cake

You have probably heard about the terrible wildfires ravaging through central Texas.  In the city of Bastrop, not thirty minutes from Key Ingredient’s headquarters in Austin, tens of thousands of acres have burned, and hundreds of people have lost their homes.

The food blogging community in Austin has decided to contribute to the relief effort by doing what they do best—cooking.  This Saturday, October 1st, they will be holding an Austin Bakes for Bastrop charity bake sale.  Participating food bloggers will be baking up their favorite sweet treats for Austin and surrounding communities.  Patrons who attend will “purchase” these pastries for whatever amount they wish to donate to the cause.  100% of the proceeds will go to the Central Texas Wildfire Fund.  

Key Ingredient is helping to sponsor this important event by offering a $1,000 matching gift to Austin Bakes for Bastrop.  This coming Thursday, September 29th, go to the Austin Bakes web site and make a donation to help them reach $1,000.  Once they reach $1,000, Key Ingredient will double your money and donate an additional $1,000!  Remember, that’s this Thursday, September 29th! If you just can’t wait that long, you can donate anytime here. 

In addition to a monetary donation, I wanted to make something to share at the bake sale itself.  Something that reminded me of fall.  Something comforting, spicy, heavy, and great with coffee.  I landed on gingerbread cake.

I used Mauidreaming’s gingerbread recipe as my jumping off point, but I embellished it just a bit.  When it comes to gingerbread, I say the darker, stickier, and heavier, the better.  I’ve been known to go a little overboard with the molasses and honey, but my heart is really going out to the people affected by these fires, and to me, molasses and honey mean love.

I blended dark, blackstrap molasses with Texas wildflower honey, butter, and brown sugar, then added that to a mix of flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and allspice.  Then I added in three eggs, beating well after each addition.  Just to give it a little extra zing, I added a few teaspoons of fresh, grated ginger at the end.

It’s only Tuesday, you know, so this particular gingerbread is just a test batch for this weekend’s bake sale.  By “test batch” I mean Travis and I will eat the whole thing tonight and then feel bad about it later.  After pouring the batter into a baking pan lined with parchment paper, I placed it in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees.  The final result felt like it weighed about five pounds.  Perfect.