Procrastination

It was actually Sunday that I made a gingerbread loaf (p29), but I've been putting off writing about it because I just couldn't think what to write. It's amazing how many things you can find to keep you busy when you're putting off the one thing you should be doing.


I chose this recipe because I needed to complete more of the 'scones, muffins and loaves' recipes, and this was one that looked immediately appealing. I am a fan of all things gingerbread, after all.

You start by sifting flour and salt with a whole tablespoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon. For spices, a tablespoon is quite a lot, so I was expecting plenty of flavour in my finished loaf. To this mixture I added a cup of quick-cook porridge oats. The recipe says Creamoata, but as previously established, you can't get that anymore.


In a separate bowl, I beat eggs an sugar, then stirred through of melted butter and golden syrup before I folding in the dry ingredients. The final addition was quite interesting: baking soda dissolved in yoghurt. I almost missed this step, which would have been disastrous, since there's no other raising agent in the loaf. When you add baking soda to yoghurt, it fluffs up to a light, airy texture, a bit like beaten eggs. I found that fascinating.

I stirred through the fluffy yoghurt, along with some sultanas (yes, sultanas in a gingerbread loaf. I thought that was weird too). and spooned the mixture in to loaf tin, carefully greased but not lined as I'd just remembered I'd run out of baking paper.


The given baking time is 55 minutes. As per my usual habit, I set my timer for a bit less than that. When it went off after 50 minutes, I took out a loaf that was already looking very dark on top, and showed every sign of being cooked through. I left it in the tin for another ten minutes before taking it out to cool.


To be honest, this gingerbread loaf was a bit of a disappointment. Despite the reduced cooking time, the loaf was overcooked - crunchy around the edges and starting to dry out in the middle. The oats had not mixed through very well, and there were lighter oaty patches here and there throughout the loaf. There was flavour enough, as I'd anticipated with the heavy spicing, but actually, that doubtful inclusion of sultanas was the best thing about this loaf - a few juicy sultanas sprinkled through your slice of loaf help make up for the overall dryness.

To summarise: this loaf has a good flavour but is easily overcooked. I'd suggest 40-45 minutes' cooking time is more suitable than 55 - not letting it dry out would make all the difference.