Islesford White Gingerbread

 Okay, got the ginger. Check. Got the molasses. Check. Wait! What? No ginger in this recipe? No molasses? What the heck?!

Not knowing what this dessert would turn out to be, I jumped in with wooden spoon at the ready, and was pleasantly surprised. It is, as the recipe title suggests, "white." Except for the color of the nutmeg sprinkled on top before baking.

It comes out of the oven and I just look at it with some suspicion. I mean, it doesn't look anything like gingerbread cake. When in doubt, taste it! Glad, so glad, I risked everything and tasted. Really marvelous cake. But my taste buds recognized the flavor, yet couldn't place it. The recipe title continued to get in the way of going through taste bud files in my mind. When trying to remember a taste, what do you do to help you concentrate? Yes, that's right. Taste, and taste again!

Aha! Got it! But just to be sure, I took a sample to the Resident Archaeologist, to taste. "Tell me what this flavor reminds you of?" A sugar cookie, he replies. "Okay, what does the texture remind you of?" He takes another bite, thinks for a minute, and replies, Donuts.

It's a Donut Cake, my friends! Brilliant! Hiding donuts in a cake. Man, why didn't I ever think of that? This cake was popular on the island and served at the Woodlawn Hotel from the mid-1800s to the 1950s. One more dessert (see Cranberry Raisin Pie blog) you will want to serve for breakfast! All I can say is, when you buy this cookbook, turn to page 206 and bake this recipe. Your enemies will be transformed into instant friends and your friends will be loyal forever, or at least as long as you keep feeding them this cake. (It doesn't need the whipped cream, but it looks kinda cute encircled with whipped cream, don't you think?!)



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