Mace will make you scream... for ice cream!

It may come as news to you that mace is more than just pepper spray.  Or you might also know it as a weapon like this. 

The mace I’m talking about today has no relation to either of those, whatsoever.  This mace is actually a spice that comes from the nutmeg tree.  In this picture, the brown nut on the left is an example of nutmeg.  At the bottom, in the middle you can see an example of mace.  It is that red coating surrounding the nutmeg within.  When it is peeled off and dried, it turns more of an orange color.  It is then ground into a fine powder.    

I know, it doesn’t look like anything special, but trust me, it can turn store bought vanilla ice cream into a gourmet dessert. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Vanilla ice cream
• Mace

Yep, just two ingredients.  The hardest part of this will be getting your hands on some mace.  If you don’t have a Penzeys near you, you can order it from their website.  Yes, it is a little on the expensive side, but even for just this one application, it’s worth every penny.  All you have to do is scoop some of your favorite vanilla ice cream into a bowl. 

And now for the really complicated part… sprinkle on some mace. 

You have now turned ordinary vanilla ice cream into spice cream!  I know it doesn’t look like much, but it truly is fabulous.  You could even serve it to guests, and they are guaranteed to rave. 

What’s your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream?

Apple Upside Down Gingerbread Cake

Wow, that’s a bit of a mouthful, huh?  Well, it was an easier title than sweet and spicy, apple-y, molasses-y, gingerbread goodness. Elise Logan and I went apple picking, you see.  In fact, I have to give a shout out to her munchkin for being such a great apple picker.  These are the ones I took, which was only a small percentage of the total haul. 

While we were there, we visited the gift shop, of course.  Along with all the many jams and jellies, they had sorghum molasses.  I’ve only ever had cane derived molasses, so I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to try something new.

So with an abundance of apples and exciting new molasses just dying to be made into something, the idea for apple upside down gingerbread cake was born.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3-4 medium apples
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• ¼ cup buttermilk*
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup oil
• ½ cup molasses*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• *the sorghum molasses I used was a little thinner than my usual blackstrap, so if yours is very thick, you may need to increase the buttermilk to ⅓ cup. 

I know that looks like a huge list of ingredients, but I promise this is really quite easy to put together.  First, we’re going to deal with the apples.  Wait, first, butter an 8x8 pan and preheat your oven to 350°.  Now for the apples.  Peel them and cut them into a large dice.  Then, into a pan over medium heat, put 1 Tablespoon of butter. 

Then in go the apples. 

Toss them until they’re all coated with butter, then pop the lid on for 5 minutes. 

When you remove the lid, they should just be starting to soften. 

Sprinkle on the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Gently toss or stir until the apples are evenly coated. Pour them into the prepared pan.   

Spread them around so you have an even layer, and then set that aside. 

Now onto the cake part.  Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  (both flours, sugar, salt, soda, powder, cinnamon, and ginger)

Whisk those together and set them aside.  Next come the wet ingredients.  Buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla all go into a bowl. 

Whisk that for a good minute or so to make sure the egg is well beaten.  Then, pour in the molasses.  Ah, there’s something beautiful about that, isn’t there? 

Now, mix that well, and pour it over the dry ingredients. 

Stir just until it all comes together.  Once the liquid and flour get together, you never want to over mix, or your cake will have air tunnels in it and can even be quite tough. 

Pour that over the apples and spread it to even out the top. 

Into the 350° oven for about 35 minutes.  It’ll be nicely browned on top, especially at the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. 

In my world, hot out of the oven, spicy, apple-y deliciousness, can’t be served without a bit of good vanilla ice cream on top. 

 

Have you ever been apple picking before?