Ginger-Orange Cake

Note: I'm procrastinating with work by baking, cooking and shopping for baking and cooking.

This recipe is from the Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook which surprisingly makes no mention of any Pillsbury products, marshmallow man or otherwise.


I modified the recipe to the Ginger-Orange bars by cutting down on sugar, omitting the molasses and using soy milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice instead of buttermilk. I would recommend using buttermilk if you can, it gives the bars its softer, crumblier texture. I also used a little less margarine and substituted that with applesauce. The result was NOTHING like that of the book, it turned out a little dry due to the lack of butter, but I think it made a pretty darn good dessert after the eggplant salad. Instead of using a thick frosting to spread over the cake, I added a bit more orange juice to make a runnier sauce and drizzled it over the cake and raspberries on the side.

Included is a picture of the jerk chicken panini that the boyfriend had from dinner which he made from scratch by marinading a chicken fillet in chives, onion powder, allspice, nutmeg, lime juice, oil and red pepper flakes. Hurrah Brian! Your disdain for eggplants has paid off in panini wages.


Ginger-Orange Cake (Adapted from Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook)
Makes about 15 bars (each bar is 2x2 inch square, 130 cals)
Prep time = 25 mins
Cook time = 2o mins

Bars
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1 egg
2 tbsp applesauce
1.25 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup soy milk & 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (or use 1/2 cup buttermilk instead)
1/8 tsp minced ginger
1.5 tsp grated orange peel

Frosting
1.25 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp margarine or butter, softened
1/4 tsp grated orange peel
2 tbsp orange juice