Ginger Bread Pudding

My supper club met again last night and this time the theme was Nigella Lawson's recipes. My recipe was a ginger bread pudding that was spicy and sweet. The ginger flavor came from ginger preserves which were spread on and sandwiched between slices of whole wheat bread and from a mixture of ginger and granulated brown sugar which was sprinkled on top. Nigella uses a majority of heavy cream in the custard as opposed to milk and this gave the pudding a super moist and tender consistency. We ate the pudding with ice cream, but it would be even better with some warm vanilla custard poured over top.

the best oatmeal cookies

This is not a new recipe to me, but it is one of my favorites so I wanted to post it. If you're looking for a chewy oatmeal cookie with a taste of brown sugar and vanilla, and loaded with raisins, this is it. The recipe takes about 30 minutes, cooking time included. The key to the chewiness is to undercook the cookies. So, while the top of the cookies may look underdone, if the bottom has a golden color to it, its finished.

You can download my PDF version of the recipe here.

oatmeal baby cakes with penuche frosting

This tasty cake has earned a place in my repertoire of spicy sweets. I originally baked the cake in an 8-inch round cake pan but was unhappy with the thought of a single layer cake. I decided, then to use a biscuit cutter to make layered baby cakes, with a much better result. The cake is moist and spicy and is frosted with a super sweet brown sugar frosting. If one wanted to make a regular sized layer cake, I think this recipe could easily be doubled.