fresh ginger cake

With the holidays coming up I was going back through some of my favorite desserts for a crowd, and this one -- forgive me! -- took the cake.

Fresh Ginger Cake from David Lebovitz.

It's a bit of a labor of love. First of all, you have to boil water and blend the molasses, since molasses is all sticky and heavy and it wouldn't blend very well with flour straight out of the jar. So you melt it a little bit, like thus:

 
And then whisk the flour and spices in:

 
The other labor-y part is the grating of four ounces of ginger. And personally, I was afraid to do it in the food processor since I wasn't 100% sure that method would get rid of all the stringy bits. So I did the grating by hand. Which leads to sore fingertips and the occasional frustrated grumble (not shown).

But then you get this lovely, dark, spicy, warm-even-when-it's-not-warm cake out of it.

Also, in addition to lining the bottom of the pan with a parchment round, you'll also want to oil or butter the sides. This cake is serious about sticking.

 
Spicy and delicious and wintry. More stable than a pie, and it doesn't even need frosting. Just serve a big wedge with coffee or tea or, if you do want a bit of a flourish, lemon ice cream.

'Tis the season.

Comments

[Patricia Anne McGoldrick]

What a great recipe!
With all the November writing debate, I think that the scent of fresh ginger cake wafting through any writing area would calm the flurry of arguments over this annual event.
I think I will try this recipe tomorrow!
Patricia
http://pmpoetwriter.blogspot.com/