3 Spice Cake Recipes: #3 Fresh Ginger Favorite

A Couple of Questions:

1. Is one of your favorite pieces of candy either a Ginger Chew or a piece of spicy, crystallized ginger?
2. When given the choice, would you choose a Pear and Stem Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding or a 66% Valrhona Chocolate Pot de Crème?

If your answers are “Yes,” and “the Former,” then Hello; Pull up a Spork; And welcome to my world.  A smile-inducing place where the Three S’s (Sweet, Savory, and Spice) in identical proportions equates to my version of heaven.

I’ll trade you the other two for the one on the left.  I’m hungry now.

So, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”

For I was being a bit selfish when I included this cake in the Groomsman Cake Tasting.  I knew that the consistency, decadent and gooey, wasn’t really a wedding cake option.  Instead, it’s the perfect restaurant dessert (we made a version of this at Bacchanalia…and I would greedily await the end of the night to see if there were any unsold leftovers) –with its rich-molasses morsels, that rightfully pair with a brown sugar sauce, and topped with a tarragon, Crème Fraiche Ice Cream.

It had to be included if only as an education in Spice Cake Diversity – from lightest in flavor to darkest (richest) in taste.  There was the bright citrus version with a hint of ginger that Spice adverse Diane loved, the intermediate Spice Cake that was voted as the Groomsman cake Winner, and then this recipe.  Which I consider to be masterpiece in depth of flavor and texture.

Who knew relaxation could come in the form of grating ginger?

Adapted from a recipe we used at the restaurant (and similar to a recipe by David Lebovitz), this is what I crave when I think about a great Spice Cake.  It uses freshly grated ginger as well as White Pepper – the mature and mild pepper corn – which adds a floral tone to this rich Molasses and Fresh Ginger Cake.  The addition of water creates an incredibly moist consistency with barely any resistance on the fork.  And the bits of crystallized Ginger…not for the faint of spice.

For this recipe, I baked it as a bundt cake (shown below) OR better yet…if making it as a dinner for dessert…prepare them in personal-sized ramekins.  Imagine – as a finale to a meal, being able to reheat them in the oven (350 degrees) for 5 minutes – then run your knife along the sides of the container – flip them over and out – and top with a rich caramel butter sauce and a dollop of crème fraiche (or Ice Cream on the side).  If you make this (which you should immediately) let me know how you go about serving it.  Or better yet…just invite me over!

Absolutely Delicious!

My Favorite Ginger Cake Recipe
Adapted From Bacchanalia + David Lebovitz

(T = Tablespoon/ t = teaspoon)

• 2 T of Fresh Grated Ginger/ 2 T chopped Crystallized Ginger
• 1 cup molasses (not strong)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup Canola Oil (Or flavorless Vegetable oil)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 eggs, at room temperature

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Ensure that the center rack is available for use.  Butter Bundt Cake pan extremely well and lightly flour.
• Peel ginger.  Use a microplane (grater) to shave the ginger extremely fine.
• In a small bowl, mix together the molasses, sugar, grated ginger and oil.
• In another bowl (I use the kitchen aid bowl), sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and finely ground white pepper.  Lightly mix in the crystallized ginger.
• Take hot water (boiled in a tea kettle/saucepan) and stir in the baking soda.
• Add the Baking Soda Hot Water to the Molasses mixture.

The Batter Will Look Wet.  Please Don’t Fret!

• Using the kitchen aid, with the paddle on a low speed, add the wet mixture in three unhurried additions.  Mix until all the batter is smooth.  Again, the batter will appear wet.
• Pour the batter into the bundt cake pan.  Place into the center of the oven and bake for an hour – rotating the pan 180 degrees have way through.
• The cake is done when the toothpick – inserted into the center of the cake – comes out clean.
• NOTE: If it seems like the outside of the cake is cooking faster than the inside (which happens frequently as it does have contact with the pan), take the cake out of the oven and wrap the exterior in tin foil.  Make sure that the tin foil and extend beyond the top of the cake and surround the faster cooking parts similar to a roof.
• After an hour, check the cake.  If a toothpick, inserted into the center, comes out clean – the cake is done.
• Let cake cool completely.  Since this cake is wetter than most, cooling will help secure the desserts form.  Once cool, run knife (w/o sharp edge) around the cake to loosen.  Place plate on top, then flip over and lightly tap pan to loosen the cake.
• Serve!