Cakey gingerbread squares

Yield: 12 Servings

Ingredients:

1 x -Dottie Cross TMPJ72B
8 tb Unsalted butter; at room
1 x -temperature
1/2 c Sugar
2 ea Large eggs
1 x Grated zest of 1 orange
2 1/2 c Sifted all-purpose flour
2 ts Baking soda
2 ts Ground ginger
1 ts Ground cinnamon
1/2 ts Ground allspice
1/2 ts Ground nutmeg
1/2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Ground cloves
1 c Unsulfured molasses
1 c Boiling water
1 x Confectioners' sugar;
1 x -for dusting

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. Using a hand-held electric mixer set at high speed beat the butter until creamy about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until light in color and texture about 2 additional minutes. Beat in the eggs and orange zest. Sift the flour baking soda ginger cinnamon allspice nutmeg salt and cloves onto a piece of waxed paper. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine the molasses and boiling water. Alternately in thirds beat in the flour and molasses mixtures. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is shrinking from the sides of the pan 40 to 50 minutes. Let stand on a wire cake rack for 5 minutes. Place the confectioners' sugar in a sieve and dust over the top of the cake. Serve the cake warm or completely cooled. Makes 12 to 16 servings. Source: "An Edible Christmas" (A Treasury of Recipes for the Holiday) by Irena Chalmers. Reformatted by: CYGNUS HCPM52C