Cooking with the Presidents: Dolley Madison's Gingerbread

If you don't already know, I'm a huge fan of a cake Dolley Madison used to make (well, with a few modifications). I had a hankering for something sweet yesterday and decided it was time to try out another presidential recipe. I perused through my copy of The Presidents Cookbook and was reminded once again how dramatically eating habits and tastes have changed. I mean, no offense to James Buchanan, but I have no interest in eating "Calf's Head Dressed as Terrapin."

Thankfully the dessert options tend to be far more appetizing, and although several recipes piqued my interest, I was once again drawn back to Dolley Madison. (In fact, the Madison section of the cookbook has several sweet recipes I'd like to try, which got me wondering if that's the reason Hostess created the "Dolly Madison Bakery" brand. In three minutes of googling, the best history I could find indicates that the bakery wanted to suggest their products were good enough to be served at the White House, but it doesn't specify why Dolly/Dolley in particular was chosen.)

Anyway, the recipe I decided to tackle was her gingerbread. According to the description, Dolley referred to it as the "Jefferson gingerbread," and she gave the recipe to Martha Washington to preserve, so this gingerbread's significance seems to span several presidents. Other First Ladies have used the same recipe, and apparently one chef made it for the Eisenhowers. I figured it must be good.

I didn't really make any modifications to this recipe, so here it is:

Dolley Madison's Soft Gingerbread

2 1/2 c. flour
4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. molasses
1 c. hot water (divided)
2/3 c. fresh beef drippings or lard
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

Before I get into the instructions, let's talk for a moment about this beef dripping/lard issue. I don't have any beef drippings on hand, nor have I ever. I do have lard (don't judge---I use it for making tortillas). I wasn't thrilled with the idea of dumping a bunch of lard into a dessert and considered substituting butter, but ultimately I decided to be "authentic" and go with the lard.

Also this recipe, like many old recipes, calls for dissolving the baking soda in hot water and adding it to the wet ingredients. I considered not doing that and just mixing the baking soda in with the dry ingredients like I usually do, but, again, I went for authenticity and did what the recipe said.

All right, so start by preheating the oven to 350, then mix the flour, ginger, and cinnamon in a bowl.

In another bowl, mix the molasses with your drippings or lard or whatever fat you're using.

Dissolve the baking soda in 1/4 c. hot water and add it to the molasses/fat.

Heat the remaining 3/4 c. water until it's almost boiling. Alternate adding the water and flour mixture to the molasses mixture, and stir until combined.

Pour into a greased baking dish (I used a 9 x 9 square) and bake about 30 minutes. You'll know it's done when a toothpick comes out clean. Or just by smell. Seriously, you'll know. (My cookbook joked that you should make this in the winter with the windows closed, because if you bake it with the windows open the whole neighborhood will come over. I was like, "Yeah, right," but really...my house never smelled so amazing.)

It wasn't until I was already mixing the ingredients that I noticed the recipe calls for no sugar. (It actually does call for a dusting of powdered sugar for serving, but there's none in the recipe.) I checked another gingerbread recipe in the book and it didn't include sugar either, so...hey, whatever.

The verdict?

This gingerbread was extremely moist, although surprisingly not very gingery. The predominant flavor was molasses, which isn't a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. I didn't bother telling my sugar-loving family that there was no sugar in the recipe, and they didn't complain (although the dollop of whipped cream on top probably helped).

If I were to make this again I'd likely go a little lighter on the molasses, a little heavier on the ginger, and I'd add a bit of salt to help bring out the flavors.

I have at least two more presidential gingerbread recipes I want to try, so stay tuned. We'll see how they stack up.

James Madison's Favorite Lip Balm

Last week I read with great interest an article about lip balm because I live in Illinois and we're in the depths of winter and my lips are falling off. None of the balms in the article interested me, but someone in the comment section (yeah, I read them sometimes) mentioned this stuff called Hurraw! Lip Balm. Being in favor of products with fun names, I decided to check them out.

The Hurraw! balms are everything-friendly: all natural, vegan, organic, free-trade, cruelty-free, etc., but I was more interested in the scents because I'm selfish. Many caught my eye: Chai Spice, Earl Gray, Green Tea (plus more "typical" flavors like Black Cherry and Orange). The one that really stood out, though, was called Vata. It's described as "soothing almond, spicy cardamom, and a lovely lingering of rose."

Cardamom and rose? Hello! That sounds just like my Dolley Madison Cake! I've actually been dying for that cake lately, but I'm on a diet, so it's a no-go. I figured a similarly-scented lip balm might be next best thing, or possibly torture. So I ordered some.

My order arrived quickly, and whoever packaged it had drawn little hearts all over the invoice. It was kind of a cute human touch. The lip balm itself isn't a typical cylinder; it's more of an ellipse, making it easier to fit in a pocket without creating a weird bulge. I like it.

And this Vata Balm...oh my gosh, it really does smell like my cake, and it feels wonderful. It's possibly the most exquisite thing my lips have ever touched (apologies to Mr. Presidentressor and any ex-boyfriends who might happen to stumble upon this). It's like kissing James Madison! Or Dolley! I don't know. But I do know I want cake, and more of this lip balm.

Without saying anything about the scent to my 6-year-old daughter, I stuck the lip balm under her nose and she said, "Mmm! It smells like cardamom! Like that cake!" Definitive proof that it's not just me.

You can order some of this wonderful stuff from the Hurraw! website, and most (all?) flavors seem to be available on Amazon with free Prime shipping, too. (Although it sounds like it, I haven't received anything free nor have I been compensated for my opinion on this lip balm. I just really love it.)

I'm not sure what James Madison used for keeping his lips moist and supple, but I think he would have been a fan of this stuff.

Cooking with the Presidents: Dolley Madison Cake

I have this thing called The Presidents Cookbook, from 1968. When I bought it, my plan was to sift (ha) through the different presidential recipes and make a presidential feast out of the best of them. Instead, I learned that until at least 1968, presidents ate disgusting stuff. (See my post about the Billy Possum. Sadly, this book doesn't have a recipe for possum-and-taters, but there is a recipe for Coon-and-Squirrel Pie, courtesy of Zachary Taylor.) Even the later presidents didn't have any main courses that seemed appealing.

Needless to say, I didn't have a presidential feast. The good news is there were a few desserts that looked awfully tasty. I made an okay blackberry cake a la Andrew Jackson, but the one I really loved was a Dolley Madison cake. I have made it three times now, with my third one baking as I type.

I did make a few adaptations to the recipe, which I'll share with you now in case you'd like to make your own Dolley Madison cake (and you should).

First, I've halved the recipe. Cut in half, the batter makes a perfect full-size bundt cake. For the actual recipe, you're supposed to pour all the batter (so two full-sized-bundt-cakes-worth) into one large pan and bake it at 275-300 degrees until it's done, which at that rate and temperature would probably take hours. I don't wait hours for my cakes, which is why I made it smaller (and also baked it at 350).

This recipe was written using weight rather than volume for most ingredients. I'd never measured that way before, but I did have a kitchen scale sitting unused in my pantry, so I went for it. It was actually a lot easier than fiddling with measuring cups, and I kinda wish more recipes were still written that way. But in case you're not into using a scale for your baking, I've included approximations if you'd like to use cups.

The recipe calls for citron and raisins. Halved, you should use 1/4 lb of citron and 1/2 lb of raisins, but that seemed like too many raisins, so I did 1/4 lb of each. If you're not familiar with citron (I wasn't, really, though I'm sure I've had it before in various sweet breads), it's a candied citrus peel that basically tastes like nothing. I couldn't find it in a grocery store so I ordered some from Amazon. You could probably skip the citron if you want. You also don't need to measure it too exactly. A quarter-pound is half of one of those containers, and you can just throw in a handful or two of raisins.

This recipe is also a little unusual (by today's standards) in using rosewater. That's something you don't much see nowadays outside of Middle Eastern or Indian cooking. But it turns out that in James Madison's day, rosewater was a common flavoring before vanilla became popular. I googled it and learned that the Shakers used to make excellent quality rosewater, and one of its uses was in apple pie. This was particularly interesting to me, as I'm from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and I now have "making a rosewater-apple pie" on my to-do list for this summer.

But I digress. You can probably find rosewater at your grocery store, either in the baking aisle or an ethnic-food aisle. If you can't find it there, a Middle Eastern or Indian grocery store will certainly have it. Or there's always Amazon.

The only major change I made to the recipe was not using nutmeg. I don't hate nutmeg but I'm not a huge fan of it either, so I decided to go out on a limb and use cardamom for three reasons. 1) I love cardamom. 2) It goes so well with rosewater! 3) It's not that out-there for a Dolley Madison cake. A while back I found a recipe for a cake Dolley supposedly loved...I think it was a Black Pepper-Ginger-Cardamom cake. So I figure as a spice she knew and liked, there's a chance it could have ended up in this cake, too. The actual recipe calls for one grated nutmeg (meaning you'd use half a grated nutmeg for my reduced recipe). I'm not sure what that works out to in terms of teaspoons, but I used 1/2 tsp. of cardamom. (Actually, the first two times I made the cake, I just dumped some in without measuring. That works, too.)

You'll also need butter, baking soda, eggs, and brandy. The original recipe says to dissolve the baking soda in a bit of hot water and add it after the eggs. That seemed too old-school, so I mixed the baking soda (no water) in with the flour.

Without further ado, here's the recipe I made. Keep in mind this batter will fill one normal-sized bundt pan. Feel free to use a loaf pan or other cake pans, and adjust your baking time accordingly.

Dolley Madison Cake (as modified by The Presidentress)

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1/2 lb (1 1/4 c) granulated sugar
3 eggs at room temperature, beaten
1/2 lb (1 3/4 c) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 oz (1/4 c) brandy
2 oz (1/4 c) rosewater
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 lb (handful-ish) citron
1/4 lb (handful-ish) raisins

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare your cake pan(s) by buttering and flouring them, or whatever you normally do.

In a bowl, mix baking soda into the flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. (I used an electric mixer, but if you want to be really authentic, you could always do it by hand.)

Slowly add the flour.

Add the beaten eggs and mix to combine.

Add the brandy, rosewater, and cardamom and mix until just combined.

With a large spoon, stir in the citron and raisins.

Pour into your pan(s) and bake until done. (You can often tell when a cake is done when it starts to smell done. It will also be a nice golden brown color, and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.) My bundt cake took about 55 minutes.

Let cool completely before eating.

I added a dusting of powdered sugar to my cake, but it tastes great on its own, too.

My Favorite Presidents

You'd think "Who's your favorite president?" is something I get asked a lot, but it isn't. Mostly people ask "Why presidents?" in the same incredulous tone they use when asking why I moved from Southern California to Northern Illinois.

So, you didn't ask but I'm going to answer anyway, about my favorite president at least. (As for why the obsession, I have no answer. As for the California-Illinois thing, that's a discussion for another day.)

The truth is that I have a few favorites. In no particular order, they are:

Abraham Lincoln

This one seems kind of obvious. When people discuss the greatest presidents, Lincoln is always at or near the top, although I don't see how he can ever be rated lower than number one. Abraham Lincoln is like Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time. Not Mantle, not Mays, not Williams, not DiMaggio. It's Ruth. And it's Lincoln. It just is.

That's not to say that "the best" always has to be "the favorite" (Babe Ruth isn't my favorite baseball player), but Lincoln is definitely part of the three-way tie for my favorite.

Theodore Roosevelt

I'm a little conflicted on TR's presidency because I'm not just a fan of presidents; I'm also a fan of turn-of-the-century business moguls. (I totally need to make another blog called RobberBaroness.com.) Teddy as Trust-Buster caused some of my favorite historical figures to be pitted against one another, and that's uncomfortable but also kind of awesome. He was more hawkish than I'd like, but his administration did result in several important reforms.

More than anything, though, he was a fascinating human being. The guy taxidermied his own animals as a kid. He wrote several books, including a history of the War of 1812, just for fun. He overcame severe asthma to become a star athlete, and was partially blinded in one eye while boxing...when he was president. And there was the whole Rough Rider thing. And he was president. And so very, very, very much more. 

The guy was truly the most interesting man in the world. Wait, I feel a meme coming on.

There we go.

William Howard Taft

Remember I said that "favorite" and "best" don't always align? No one will ever accuse Taft of being among the greatest presidents, and it's not Taft's presidency that landed him on this list. Instead, it's because of his character, and also because I've always felt bad for him. Everyone knows he's the "fat guy," but most people don't know he was also Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (after he was president). Supreme Court Justice is the role he always aspired to, and he sort of got thrust into the whole presidential thing against his will. He didn't like acting as a politician and he didn't want to be president. In many ways, he was too principled to succeed in politics, which is probably why he didn't.