The spiced flavor in Gingerbread cake is the epitome of any
holiday treat because it is filled with warm and cozy flavours. It works great
as part of your dessert, breakfast or tea. The flavours are strong that scream
Holiday and goes perfectly well with coffee. The recent cake competition that I
took part in , made me think out of the box… I had to step out of my usual
comfort box where I used to regularly bake anything with chocolate. Unique
flavoured cake category definitely made me think out of the box and discover how I could add a twist to the flavor. So I decided to take my
gingerbread cake to another level and I added a teaspoon of garam masala to the
recipe, which actually complimented the cake with the other spices and it wasn’t
strong at all. I felt good trying something new though I could never associate
garam masala in a cake… but this recipe changed my outlook completely!
You can frost this cake with chocolate, caramel, white
chocolate or any cheese frosting! I paired my gingerbread cake with orange
buttercream cheese frosting. It was the perfect tanginess and sweetness to this
cake. This wintery cake can be made any time of the year if you want to feel
festive!! Decorate it with rosemary or thyme, cranberries or pomegranate and
your cake will be show stopper for sure! I hope you get to try out this recipe and keep me posted on how it turns out!!
INGREDIENTS:
For the Garam
Masala Gingerbread Cake
·
1 cup brown sugar
·
3/4th cup butter
·
2 large egg
·
1/2 cup molasses
·
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
·
1/4th
teaspoon baking soda
·
1 teaspoon baking powder
·
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·
1 teaspoon ground ginger
·
1 heaped teaspoon Garam masala
·
1/2 teaspoon salt
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
1 cup hot water
For the Orange Buttercream Cheese Frosting:
·
1 lb of cream cheese room temp
·
1 cup butter room temp
·
2 Tablespoon orange zest
·
1 Tablespoon orange juice
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
200gm powdered sugar
Instructions
1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2.
Lightly grease and flour pans and place parchment on the
bottoms. This is a sticky cake so please do not omit the parchment paper on the
bottom of the pans.
3.
In a large bowl add the flour, spices, salt, baking soda,
and baking powder. Stir with whisk to combine. Set aside.
4.
In bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat
together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
5.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the
bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition.
6.
Add in the vanilla and molasses. Mix well to combine.
7.
With mixer on low speed add the flour mixture in by spoonful
alternately with the hot water, starting and ending with the flour.
8.
Mix just until well combined and smooth.
9.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans, smoothing
the tops.
10.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted
into the center comes out clean.
11.
Cool completely.
To make BUTTERCREAM frosting:
12.
Cream the cream cheese and butter together until light
and fluffy.
13.
Add in the vanilla, orange juice and orange zest, mix
well to combine.
14.
With mixer on low speed add in powdered sugar one
spoonful at a time until well combined and completely mixed and creamy, about
3-5 minutes of mixing after all powdered sugar is added. Scrape down sides of
bowl as needed.
15.
Note: This is a
soft frosting because of the cream cheese, it does not pipe designs due to its
soft nature.
ASSEMBLY:
16.
Place dab of frosting on cake board/cake plate to keep
cake in place.
17.
Place the first cake layer on the cake board/plate.
18.
Spread a large dollop of buttercream on top and spread
evenly to the edges of the cake.
19.
Place next cake layer on top and spread with buttercream.
20.
Repeat with remaining cake layer until all are stacked.
21.
Once all the layers are in place apply a crumb coat of
buttercream around the top and sides of cake. Refrigerate at least 45 min.
(Crumb coat gives a nice smooth base to work with when ready to apply final
coat of buttercream and decorate).
22.
Apply final coat of buttercream, I chose a semi-naked
cake design for this but I still used a crumb coat to keep the final coat
clean.
23.
Decorate with fruits or nuts or any holiday cookies and
greenery you may have on hand.
All the above pictures are copyrighted Ticked by Inspirations.
