Gingerbread Cake
adapted from the glorious The Last Course by Claudia Fleming
makes 8 servings

1 cup (237 ml) Guinness stout (you can also use water or coffee, but this beer does add a lot of heady flavor.)
1 cup (237) molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) baking soda 
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar 
1/2 cup (100 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup (178 ml) grapeseed or vegetable oil
2 cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (7 g) ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
3/4 teaspoons (1 gram) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon (not even a gram. 1/2 gram? a pinch?) ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon (1/2 gram? a pinch?) grated nutmeg 
1/8 teaspoon (pinch) ground cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grab a 6-Cup Bundt Pan and grease it in any way you like. You can rub some butter over the insides, but I like to use non-stick cooking spray.

2. Pour the Guinness and molasses into a medium sized pot, bigger than you think you need, because there will be some heavy duty foaming action. Bring to a boil over high heat.

3. Turn off the heat and pour in the baking soda. Stir it in and watch it all bubble to the top, like a 6th grade volcano experiment. Let it sit until the foam settles, about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a large bowl, and add the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk ‘em up and add the grated fresh ginger. Then whisk in the oil.

5. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and all the spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.) Give it all a good stir.

6. Now add the now-calm Guinness mixture to the egg mixture and whisk it up.

7. At this point, you should have one bowl of wet ingredients and one bowl of dry ingredients. The dry stuff goes into the wet stuff. Start with half, then incorporate the rest. It ends up being a very loose batter.

8. Bake! Should take about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Mine took 50 minutes.

9. When a toothpick inserted into middle of the cakiest part comes out clean, it’s ready. The top should also be springy.

10. Let it cool and invert onto the most party-worthy platter you’ve got.


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URL to original: https://www.pastrypal.com/2009/12/gingerbread-new-year/

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