Time Period: 1650-1799
As a wise woman once sang, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The first cake I tackled for The American Cake Project was American Gingerbread, which is the very first recipe in the book.
I have to confess, though, that I didn't (just) make this first because it's the earliest chronologically. Gingerbread is also very seasonably appropriate in early December, and honestly, the directions, ingredients, and necessary equipment is a lot simpler than it is for a lot of the later, fancier cakes.
And that makes sense. At this point in history, Americans had extremely limited access to ingredients, and home kitchens with bake ovens were just coming into existence. Traditional sweeteners were tough to acquire, and if a colonist wanted to leaven a cake, they'd have to use a yeast culture imported from Europe.
Things changed when potash was discovered. Don't ask me how people figured this out, but it turns out that when trees were cleared and burned, the resulting ash, when combined with sour milk or molasses, produced carbon dioxide bubbles that could raise a cake. Potash became a forerunner of baking soda, and using molasses was a lot cheaper than using honey or sugar, so a cakey version of gingerbread was born.
Used as a stomach settler in the 17th century, gingerbread caught on quickly. People assumed the molasses had health benefits, though it's far more likely that the ginger was the major contributor. The spices also helped cover up the flavor of the potash, which was decidedly not tasty.
In 1796, Amelia Simmons wrote the first American cookbook, called American Cookery. It included recipes for roasts, soups, breads, and desserts, and had no fewer than seven different preparations described for gingerbread. Though most of the gingerbread referred to the hard dough used for cookies, the cake version was mentioned as well. Simmons' recipes don't translate well to the modern era, but Byrn combined, then adapted the colonial recipes into a modern version of this uniquely American cake.
Gingerbread is classic for a reason. I've liked it since I was a kid, and this recipe is possibly one of the best I've ever encountered. Sweet, but not too sweet, with a good punch of spice, this version of American Gingerbread will likely be filed away as my standard. I'm sure a lot of the upcoming complex cakes will have charms of their own, of course, but gingerbread is comforting and reliable, and will always sit atop my list of welcome desserts.
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As a wise woman once sang, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The first cake I tackled for The American Cake Project was American Gingerbread, which is the very first recipe in the book.
I have to confess, though, that I didn't (just) make this first because it's the earliest chronologically. Gingerbread is also very seasonably appropriate in early December, and honestly, the directions, ingredients, and necessary equipment is a lot simpler than it is for a lot of the later, fancier cakes.
And that makes sense. At this point in history, Americans had extremely limited access to ingredients, and home kitchens with bake ovens were just coming into existence. Traditional sweeteners were tough to acquire, and if a colonist wanted to leaven a cake, they'd have to use a yeast culture imported from Europe.
Things changed when potash was discovered. Don't ask me how people figured this out, but it turns out that when trees were cleared and burned, the resulting ash, when combined with sour milk or molasses, produced carbon dioxide bubbles that could raise a cake. Potash became a forerunner of baking soda, and using molasses was a lot cheaper than using honey or sugar, so a cakey version of gingerbread was born.
Used as a stomach settler in the 17th century, gingerbread caught on quickly. People assumed the molasses had health benefits, though it's far more likely that the ginger was the major contributor. The spices also helped cover up the flavor of the potash, which was decidedly not tasty.
In 1796, Amelia Simmons wrote the first American cookbook, called American Cookery. It included recipes for roasts, soups, breads, and desserts, and had no fewer than seven different preparations described for gingerbread. Though most of the gingerbread referred to the hard dough used for cookies, the cake version was mentioned as well. Simmons' recipes don't translate well to the modern era, but Byrn combined, then adapted the colonial recipes into a modern version of this uniquely American cake.
Gingerbread is classic for a reason. I've liked it since I was a kid, and this recipe is possibly one of the best I've ever encountered. Sweet, but not too sweet, with a good punch of spice, this version of American Gingerbread will likely be filed away as my standard. I'm sure a lot of the upcoming complex cakes will have charms of their own, of course, but gingerbread is comforting and reliable, and will always sit atop my list of welcome desserts.
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