- My TESOL courses are going well, definitely not something I expected once I hopped in.
- My flight to Thailand is booked
- My last day at work has been put in for the end of the month
Now, to business! This past weekend, I visited Miami and my dear friend, Spencer, who recently was accepted into Med school! Wahoo! So, what better way to congratulate her than to make her a cake from scratch? And by cake, we all know it's going to have to be something interesting, not the run-of-the-mill, everyday carrot cake, or coconut cake... See, my friend is also a fan of making delicious concoctions, and does not shoot for the stuff she can just buy at her local Publix or Winn-Dixie. No, for her, I decided to try something new, and flavorful. Ginger. It's spicy, tantalizing to the taste buds, and beneficial to one's health. Now, with that being said, how would ginger go well in some cake? Spice cake! To pair it off, by cooling it down, and complement the earthy heat of the ginger, I decided a lime cream cheese frosting would knock this cake up a few notches.
Now is that not a gorgeous cake? See those orange-ish stuff on top? That was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision made, candied ginger. And let me tell you, this addition blew my mind into space of gustational ecstasy! Also, I learned how to candy ginger, and I hope to use candying for other edible decorations!
The recipe is as follows; the flavor measurements are relative, it is really to your own personal preference of taste, my goal was to ensure this cake tasted like ginger. Also, there is a lime glaze option, which would work better for bundt and tube cakes.
Ginger Spice Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Fresh Ginger, finely chopped, to taste
1/4-1/2 cup ginger ale
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl, make sure to mix evenly.
In a separate medium-large bowl, beat the granulated sugar with the butter so that it is light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time.
Add brown sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk.
After the wet ingredients are throughly mixed, slowly add them to the dry ingredients in the large bowl, make sure to not have the mix clumpy. Depending on your preference of ginger flavor(we used about half a tablespoon), beat in the chopped ginger to the mix, and add the ginger ale.
*Depending on the pan, the cook times will be different, for a Bundt tube, it took 40-45 minutes, but in a 9-in diameter round pan, it may take 28-30 minutes. Use a toothpick to check: Insert toothpick into center of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
Lime Cream Cheese Frosting (Great for sheet cakes and layer cakes!)
Zest of Limes
12 oz Cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Lime juice
2 1/2 cups of Confectioners sugar
Zest and juice the limes. In a large bowl, add cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add lime juice, and zest. Once thoroughly mixed, apply to cake.
Lime Glaze (Perfect for tube cakes!)
1/2 cup lime juice
1 1/4 cups Confectioners sugar
Pinch of Salt
**Lime for decoration
Place juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 4 minutes). Cool slightly. Stir in powdered sugar and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Drizzle over cake.
**If you can make lime shavings, this would add a cute decorative touch to the cake.
Candied Ginger
Ginger, sliced
Sugar
Slice ginger thinly, making "ginger coins"; you will want enough to cover the cake so that there is at least one coin-sized piece per serving. For any small leftover, chop it and use it as well. In a small pot of water, add ginger, and cook over medium-high heat for at least 30 minutes to make the ginger tender. Drain most of the ginger, but reserve some of the liquid. Return the ginger and reserve to the pot. Add, in weight of the ginger and reserve, sugar, and let simmer for at least 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Most of the liquid should have boiled out, and the sugar should look as if it is about to re-crystalise. Remove ginger from the heat, placing on either aluminum foil, wax or parchment paper to let the ginger cool and dry. When cool and dried, decorate the cake, evenly distributing the ginger.
