flipEmily's Gingerbread
Emily's Gingerbread
Why this dish? Emily is said to have lowered pieces of gingerbread in a basket on a rope from her window to the neighborhood children. Her gingerbread recipe has survived.
A moist, dark gingerbread with molasses and ginger, simple and comforting: the treat shared without ceremony.
This one I reserve for the little ones of the neighborhood. I fill a basket with squares of gingerbread, I let it slide down on a rope from my window, and I listen to their laughter rise from the garden without them seeing me. The molasses makes it dark, the ginger makes it lively—it's such a short recipe I know it by heart. Giving in secret—that is the sweetest indulgence.
- •Molasses — a good cup (sweetness, moisture)
- •Ground ginger — generously (master spice)
- •Butter — a piece (richness)
- •Flour and pearlash (potash) — as needed for batter (structure and leavening)
- •Cream or sour milk — a little (moisture)
Emily's Gingerbread
A moist, dark gingerbread with molasses and ginger, simple and comforting: the treat shared without ceremony.
Why this dish? Emily is said to have lowered pieces of gingerbread in a basket on a rope from her window to the neighborhood children. Her gingerbread recipe has survived.
This one I reserve for the little ones of the neighborhood. I fill a basket with squares of gingerbread, I let it slide down on a rope from my window, and I listen to their laughter rise from the garden without them seeing me. The molasses makes it dark, the ginger makes it lively—it's such a short recipe I know it by heart. Giving in secret—that is the sweetest indulgence.
Ingredients (period version)
- Molasses — a good cup (sweetness, moisture)
- Ground ginger — generously (master spice)
- Butter — a piece (richness)
- Flour and pearlash (potash) — as needed for batter (structure and leavening)
- Cream or sour milk — a little (moisture)
Ingredients
- Molasses — 120 ml (sweetness, color)
- Melted butter — 80 g (richness)
- Brown sugar — 60 g (sweetness)
- Ground ginger — 2 tsp (master spice)
- Cinnamon — 1/2 tsp (supporting spice)
- Flour — 220 g (structure)
- Baking soda — 1 tsp (leavening)
- Buttermilk (or milk + a squeeze of lemon) — 120 ml (moisture)
Method
- Mix the molasses, melted butter, and brown sugar.
- Add the buttermilk, then the flour sifted with the baking soda and spices.
- Pour the batter (fairly thin) into a buttered square pan.
- Bake at 175°C for 25 to 30 minutes, until the center springs back when touched.
- Let cool slightly and cut into squares.
How it was made : 19th-century American gingerbreads were leavened with pearlash (potassium carbonate) before modern baking soda, and drew all their sweetness from molasses rather than white sugar.
The contemporary twist : Present the squares in a small wicker basket tied with a ribbon—a nod to the basket lowered from the window.
Sources : Emily Dickinson Museum — gingerbread recipe attributed to Emily Dickinson · Anecdote of the basket lowered to children (Amherst tradition)
Emily Dickinson · Charactorium
