Rated R...

Not to be one of those girls who just talks about her weight and feeling fat….but ov vey with the holiday treats and all. Chocolate, candy, cookies, cakes and booze – and it’s only Dec. 12!

Of course, part of the blame likes squarely with me. Yesterday I dug out the KitchenAid mixer and whipped up a batch of butter cookie dough and stuck it in the freezer (at some point I will attempt the cookie cutter cookies – mine always look sad, but one of these years I’ll get it right. If only for one little perfect cookie. Even if it’s a Christmas tree. How hard can that be?).

I also made up a test kitchen batch of Chocolate Swirl Gingerbread. I have a tradition of testing out recipes on Cory, Kepi & Roach. Usually I like to give them two things to taste at once – it gives them a better out. If someone really doesn’t like something they can just be polite and declare their eternal love for the other recipe. But as it was, I only had time to complete the gingerbread. Technically the recipe (from Martha Stewart) is a cake, but I wanted to try it out as little bread loaves. The result was a very rich, moist and dense bread – it made three small loaves (or one 8 inch cake)We taste-tested it while watching the Survivor finale (Steph – you lost me for awhile but in the end, I’d wished you’d won) and the assessment was thus: A yummy cake but with a very very strong taste that might be a bit much for kids. In fact, according to Roach, no self-respecting kid would probably touch it because it’s not sweet enough. So, with a heavy dose of molasses, this recipe is definitely rated R. Throw in some rum extract and it’s NC-17.If you want to try it yourself, here’s the recipe

Chocolate Swirl Gingerbread

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan(s)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light-brown sugar

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ cup water

½ cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 oz bittersweet choclate

. Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, salt, cloves, and pepper

. In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the water over medium heat. Stir the melted-butter mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth. Stir in the molasses and egg

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. With a spoon, drizzle half the chocolate over the batter. Pour remaining batter on top, and drizzle the remaining chocolate over the batter in a decorative pattern.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes

Note: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water or in a microwave. Using a squeeze bottle is an easy way to drizzle chocolate over the cake batter. Drizzle the chocolate in a zigzag pattern over the batter, then drag a knife through the lines of the chocolate, alternating the direction each time.

(This entry, double-posted at Death By Cupcakes)