Monday, March 1, 2010

Fresh Ginger Cake - Episode Two

At the end of yesterday's episode, our heroine was confronted with a smoky disaster as the Ginger Cake spilled onto the oven coils and began to burn! If only The Professor was at hand - he'd know the best solution. Feeling less cheery than Mary Ann, and certainly less glamorous than Ginger, (in fact, actually feeling like the bumbling Gilligan), our baker bravely opened the oven door, used a fish spatula to lift the cake pan and slid a cookie sheet underneath. Then using the fish spatula, with its long made-for-the-grill handle, she pushed the batter off the coils and scooped up as much as she could. Hooray! The smoking ceased and, although the batter continued to overflow, the cake cooked and was really quite yummy.

Another happy ending!

So, that's what happened to me this weekend when I made this fabulous Fresh Ginger Cake. A friend gave me this recipe several years ago and she doubles it and bakes it in a tube pan. The first time I made this, I used two 9" pans and the cakes were good, but a bit flat. Since then I've made it twice and tried different pans and this time thought I'd try one 9" pan - the batter only filled the pan half-way so I thought it would be perfect. Boy was I wrong! Anyway, the cake was still delish - very moist and slightly chewy - a perfect combination of cake and gingerbread.

If you'd like to try it, here's the recipe. You're on your own deciding what size pan . . .

Fresh Ginger Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (if using all-purpose, add 1 t. baking powder and 1/4 t. salt)
  • 1 large egg, room temperature & lightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup light molasses
  • 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 ounces (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (no need to thaw before grating if frozen)

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and flour baking pan(s)

Stir together molasses, corn syrup, and water in small bowl. Set aside. Cream butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add sugar and cream for 2-3 minutes until mixture is lighter in color and fluffy. Add the egg and cream another 1-2 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer (if using stand mixer).

Scrape down sides and stir in ginger and lemon zest. With spatula, add 1/4 flour and stir to mix. Then add 1/3 molasses mixture and stir to mix. Repeat, alternating dry and liquid ingredients. Pour into pans and bake for 35 - 37 minutes or until sides begin to contract. (If using a 9" pan, allow ten extra minutes for smoke to clear and emergency oven scraping!)

Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Garnish with powdered sugar. Optionally you can serve with candied ginger and whipped cream (1 cup heavy cream, 3 T. powdered sugar, 1 t. ground ginger). Yum!!


And remember, don't eat too much or you won't be ready for your early summer swimsuit photos.

Thanks for sharing my cooking adventures. What's going on in your kitchen this week?

2 comments:

  1. very funny cooking story! i love anything with
    ginger in it.

    i also love that we have the same name...but
    different spelling.

    blessings,
    lea

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm here to report back on the ginger cake.
    First of all, I doubled the recipe and used regular flour and baking powder. I also added the salt as suggested, but I think next time I wouldn't.

    I was being cautious because of your overflow experience, so I baked it in a Bundt pan but took enough off to make a little mini cake. That turned out to be unnecessary, but it gave me a chance to taste the cake without cutting into the big one. I took the little cake out after 35 minutes, but the Bundt cake needed a full hour.

    It came out beautifully and it's delicious. I think it would be really fun to do this as mini Bundt cakes. They would be so pretty.

    The recipe asks for light molasses. I'm not really sure what that is. I had a choice between Blackstrap and Barbados style. There was no description to tell me what was different about the Barbados style, but it was a cold day and just the thought of a tropical island was enough to make me buy it. So, thanks for the recipe. I'll certainly make this again.

    ReplyDelete

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