Apple Cider Gingerbread with Yogurt Lemon Sauce

Last night was meatloaf night.  We had a meat and veg loaf this time, with lots of chopped mushrooms and grated onion, carrot and a granny smith apple.  It turned out ok, but next time I will increase the breadcrumbs, as it didn't hold it's shape when serving it.
We also had whipped potatoes.  I don't often make mashed potatoes, but I do definitely know how.  When I was in high school, I had aspirations of becoming a dietician, so I got a job in the hospital kitchen.  We had the biggest kitchen aide mixer you've ever seen, and cooked the potatoes in a tilt table pot.  I got really good at making fluffy whipped potatoes.  The key is to have your buttermilk and butter hot and your potatoes hot, and use the ballon whisk attachment to get them fluffy. 
We don't often have dessert other than just fruit, but I am on a quest to learn to like baking, so I tried out this little cake.  You can actually mix it in the cake pan if you like, and then there's no mess of a mixing bowl.  The yogurt lemon sauce is brilliant and I'm sure I'll be using it for fruit salads and scones.
P.S. My new stoneware came in the mail yesterday.  I am so excited!  It is called Winterberry, and is made by Pfaltzgraff.  Now to wait until payday to start getting the casseroles and sugar and creamers is going to be hard!  It's nice to set a proper table with enough plates that are the same. 
Making this cake will be easy from what I have on hand.  We always have apple cider, because I like to use my glass percolator on the stove, and make hot cider with cinnamon and cloves.  This recipe was so easy, it will get made often this winter.

Apple Cider Gingerbread

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 C apple cider
1/3 C vegetable oil
1/4 C molasses
1 T cider vinegar

Lemon Sauce
1 C Vanilla Greek yogurt
grated zest of one lemon
2 tsp lemon juice


In a greased 8 inch cake pan, mix dry ingredients with a fork.  Make a well in the center, and pour in the remaining ingredients.  Mix with a fork just until you don't see any dry mix.  Bake in a preheated 350*F for 28-30 minutes.  
While cake is baking, mix lemon sauce ingredients, and refrigerate.  Serve over warm gingerbread.

Baking From Scratch

It was my husband's birthday last week, and we had his party this Sunday to celebrate.  We had eighteen guests, which makes for cramped quarters in my small house, but as usual, everybody had a good time.  It is after all, mostly about the fellowship.

Of course the star of the party was the cake(s).  I baked two:  Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Sourdough Brandied Cherry Cobbler. The Carrot Cake was the sugared version, and I made the Cobbler with Splenda, as I am diabetic. 

Both of these recipes are easy and NOT fussy, so would be a good choice for a beginning baker.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the first 5 ingredients
2 C Cake Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
In another bowl combine the following until well mixed: 
2 C sugar
1 1/2 C oil
4 whole eggs
Add this to the batter:
2 C grated carrots
1 8 1/2 oz. can crushed pineapple drained
1/2 C raisins (dusted in a little of the 2 C of flour to prevent them sinking to the bottom of the cake).
Add in dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, and bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frosting:
1/2 C butter softened
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 pound of confectioner's sugar

Cream the butter and cream cheese, and add the vanilla and powdered sugar.  Beat until soft peak stage.

Sourdough Brandied Cherry Cobbler:
2 cans/ pints cherries in water
3 T cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C Splenda ( or sugar)
1/3 C Brandy (or so, )
In a cold saucepan, combine the liquid from the canned cherries with the cornstarch with a whisk.  Add the cherries, and the cinnamon and sugar.  Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened.  Add Brandy, and cook a couple minutes more, and then remove from the heat.  Place filling in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and top with the following cobbler batter:
1 C pancake or biscuit mix
1/2 C rolled oats
1/2 C Splenda brown sugar
1 stick of melted butter
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C sourdough starter (can omit, just increase buttermilk by 1/2 C and baking mix by 1/2 C)
1 C buttermilk
2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, mix the above ingredients until batter is uniform.  Pour over cherries, and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
Top with chopped pecans if desired.  Serve with a big spoon, and add ice cream or whipped cream.