Gingerbread using black pepper?

There is nothing to fear....boldness in ideas is the mother of all inventions...? You have to try it...! In the past...... in my experimental cakes and cookie formulation.... I added five spice powder,black pepper and szechuan pepper.. ..and the taste good to me and other evaluators!

Yes. (Unless you absolutely detest pepper.) I find that gingerbread doesn't taste 'right' without the black pepper. With all of the other flavors in the gingerbread, the pepper adds a note of sharp spice to balance the sweeter spices. My ggg-gramma's fruitcake recipe calls for black pepper.

Have you ever had (proper) pepparkakor or pfefferneusse? Both of those have pepper in them. I have a very good recipe for chocolate cookies that can be made with either cayenne or black pepper. Many spiced cookies with European sources have black pepper in them.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

Don't be. It's only a batch of gingerbread, not world peace. If you don't like it, the birds will. They don't sense "hot" in foods and will be particularly hungry this time of year.

Gingerbread goes back to medieval cookery where spicing was generally more emphatic than it is today. Through the passing eras, gingerbread has had many things added and subtracted, pepper is one of the perennial ingredients. The pepper adds a tiny bite, but the ginger adds more. The pepper adds a subtle perfume, a good food smell.

Note the name, gingerBREAD - the original recipe. It has come to be two distinctly different things nowadays. It's a hard, crisp cookie and a caky, almost bready, sweetened and spiced quickbread. Either benefits from a bit of pepper.

Pastorio

The spicy chocolate cookies sound wonderful! Could you share the recipe?

Dave

Thanks to all who replied! I will keep it in. :)

-L.

It's off a can of Ghiradelli ground chocolate

Chocolate Pepper Snaps

1 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate 1 1/2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 cup butter or margarine (softened) 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 cup sugar (or less if desired) 1 large egg

Sift together the Ghirardelli Ground Chocolate, flour, salt, and baking powder. Cream butter with vanilla and spices; add sugar and egg. Beat until light and fluffy. Slowly add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls and flatten each one with a fork or press an almond, pecan, or chocolate chip into the top. If desired, you may even use a cookie press. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

(Ghiradelli ground chocolate is half cocoa, half sugar, so you can substitute 1/2C cocoa and 1/2 c white sugar if you can't find the ground chocolate. Put the cocoa in with the flour and the sugar in with the other sugar.

I find that 375F is a bit hot in my oven, and bake them at 350F.

You can use cayenne pepper rather than black pepper if you want a little more kick.)

I have friends who request these in their cookie boxes.... These go really well with gingersnaps.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

Thanks, Jenn - I think I'm going to love these...

Dave

These were *very* good! I agree, part (or all) cayenne would be a nice kicker... Thanks!

Dave

On Sat 25 Feb 2006 06:41:41p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dave Bell?

hehehe! All cayenne would probably be an ass kicker!

I always thought I liked hot seasoned food, but I tried a recipe that called for 1 teaspoon of cayenne, it just about blew my head off.