Molasses - SoCal Restaurant Show

“From Jessica B. Harris, the award-winning author of High on the Hog — inspiration for the “energetic, emotional, and deeply nuanced” (The New York Times) Netflix series of the same name—comes a new and updated edition of A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook, another important exploration of African American culture, food, and family, featuring recipes and stories to help this generation create unique holiday traditions.”

“Now with a new introduction by award-winning writer and iconic culinary historian Jessica B. Harris, a foreword by chef and television personality Carla Hall, revised recipes and stories, and a fresh new package, A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook offers proverbs, ceremonies, family projects, inspirational biographies, blessings, and of course, wonderful recipes. Structured around the seven days of Kwanzaa and the virtues each day represents, Harris shares a themed feast for each night, designed to reflect the principle of the day.

“Interspersed throughout the book are spaces to record family memories, sayings, and recipes. Rich in culinary history, and a source of inspiration for treasuring and recording family traditions both old and new,A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook is a book to cherish, and one that families will turn to again and again.:”

Jessica graciously shares her recipe for Holiday Gingerbread with Molasses Whipped Cream. It’s from the Fifth Night celebration menu of NIA (Purpose.) Quite a story that goes along with this recipe.

Jessica B. Harris is our guest providing the background and significance of Kwanzaa.

Recipe excerpt from:
A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook
by Jessica B. Harris

Serves: 8

Gingerbread was a special-occasion treat for many of our ancestors. The molasses, a by-product of sugar production, was usually available and the spices were either received as gifts or “liberated” from the Big House kitchen. Many years ago, when this book first came out, I was making book-promotion rounds and visited Dr. Betty Shabazz’s radio show with a sample for her to taste. I was astonished and delighted when after one bite, she smiled and said that hot-water gingerbread had been one of her husband, Malcolm X’s, favorite treats and that she had prepared it for him frequently. Now, I think of her and of el Hadj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) whenever I make the dish.

1 tablespoon butter for the baking pan
1 cup molasses
½ cup boiling water
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter, melted
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
Molasses Whipped Cream (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a heatproof medium bowl, combine the molasses and boiling water. Sift the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt into the molasses mixture. Add the melted butter and brown sugar and beat well either by hand or with an electric mixer. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. Then cut into squares and serve with dollops of molasses whipped cream.

Molasses Whipped Cream

Makes about 2 cups

This is a simple way to make whipped cream that adds a little something to anything
it goes with. Later, I learned that there is an old Southern recipe for this khaki-hued
deliciousness that is called Creole Fluff.

½ pint heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons molasses

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream with a wire whisk, slowly drizzling the molasses
into the cream. Whisk until the cream is whipped into firm peaks. (Alternatively, you
can use an electric mixer.)

Tag Archives: Molasses

Select Show 607, December 14, 2024: Culinary Historian and Author Jessica B. Harris with A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook

Holiday Gingerbread with Molasses Whipped Cream

Molasses Whipped Cream