No more homemade gingerbread which dries out when cooked, with Laurent Mariotte’s technique, it will be even more tender than store-bought gingerbread.
A good taste of spices and a soft crumb that melts in the mouth… This is the fond memory you have of your grandmother’s gingerbread. You have tried to remake his recipe, but you never achieve the same result. Often too dry or too dense, none of your attempts have resulted in a comparable texture: cooking at low temperature in the oven, more butter and milk… You have tried everything. Look no further, the host of Small, balanced dishes gave us the solution. For a truly soft gingerbread, he found an unstoppable technique.
Flour, honey, milk, butter… In addition to traditional ingredients, Laurent Mariotte incorporates an unexpected element into his gingerbread: prunes! Once mixed, they add moisture and lots of softness to the dough. But that’s not all: so that the crumb remains tender even after cooking, it has another secret trick. In his recipe, he does not use a classic cake mold, but a sponge cake mold. For what ? He bakes his gingerbread not in the traditional oven, but in a casserole dish. He first prepares the device with all the ingredients mentioned in his Instagram videonamely: 250 g of T55 flour, 80 g of buckwheat flour, 35 cl of whole milk, 1 tablespoon of Earl Gray tea (or Christmas tea of your choice), 80 g of butter, 80 g of honey, 100 g of whole cane sugar (muscovado type), 300 g of pitted prunes, 1 teaspoon of 4 spices (or bread spices spices), 10 g of baking soda and a pinch of salt.
Then, he heats a large casserole dish with simmering water (or a steamer) with a small ramekin at the bottom. He pours the dough into his previously buttered and floured sponge cake mold and then places it in the casserole dish. He covers and lets cook for 1 hour 30 minutes for the magic to work. “Long steam cooking is the secret to making it very soft.», whispers the host. Once cooked, he waits patiently until the gingerbread has completely cooled to unmold it.
Verdict on arrival? With its round shape and plump crumb, “she looks like a big nun!», he compares, referring to the soft spice cake filled with jam. So sure, it may not be exactly the one from your childhood, but you have to admit that this gingerbread is tempting!
