Classic Gingerbread Cake

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(from Bethany’s recipe box)

Makes one 8-inch square cake, serving 8 to 10

This cake packs potent yet well-balanced, fragrant, spicy heat. If you are particularly sensitive to spice, you can decrease the amount of dried ginger to 1 tablespoon. Guinness is the test kitchen’s favorite brand of stout. Avoid opening the oven door until the minimum baking time has elapsed. If your cake pan has thin walls, you might want to wrap it with premade cake strips or make your own from cheesecloth and foil. This extra insulation will help ensure that the edges of the cake don’t overbake. Serve the gingerbread plain or with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 2 days.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Most gingerbread recipes that are moist also suffer from a dense, sunken center, and flavors range from barely gingery to spice overload. Focusing on flavor first, we bumped up the ginger flavor by using ground ginger and grated fresh ginger and accented the ginger with cinnamon and fresh-ground pepper. As for the liquid components, dark stout had a bittersweet flavor that brought out the caramel undertones of the molasses. Finally, swapping out the butter for vegetable oil and replacing some of the brown sugar with granulated let the spice flavors come through. To prevent a sunken center, we incorporated the baking soda with the wet ingredients instead of the other dry ones, which helped to neutralize those acidic ingredients before they were incorporated into the batter and allowed the baking powder to do a better job. And vigorous stirring gave our bread the structure necessary to further ensure the center didn’t collapse.

Source: America's Test Kitchen Season 12: Fall Classics

Categories: Desserts

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup stout (see note)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2/3 cup mild molasses
  • 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger (see note)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8-inch square baking pan.

  2. Bring stout to boil in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (mixture will foam vigorously). When foaming subsides, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until dissolved; set mixture aside. Whisk flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pepper together in large bowl; set aside.

  3. Transfer stout mixture to large bowl. Whisk in eggs, oil, and grated ginger until combined. Whisk wet mixture into flour mixture in thirds, stirring vigorously until completely smooth after each addition.

  4. Transfer batter to prepared pan and gently tap pan against counter 3 or 4 times to dislodge any large air bubbles. Bake until top of cake is just firm to touch and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack, about 11/2 hours. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

  5. NOT SO GINGERLY WITH GINGERBREAD: Most cake batters require a gentle touch to avoid developing glutens in the flour and, thus, a tough crumb. But vigorous stirring actually gave our super-wet gingerbread batter the structure necessary to keep the center from collapsing. GENTLY STIRRED BATTER = SUNKEN CAKE CENTER

  6. KEYS TO RICHER, ZINGIER FLAVOR – BITTERSWEET BEER: Dark stout contributes deep, caramelized notes. FLAVOR-FREE FAT: Clean, neutral-tasting oil brings key flavors into clear relief. A ROOTY BOOST: Fresh ginger kicks up the fiery, pungent notes of dried ginger. BACKSEAT SPICES: Black pepper and cinnamon complement—without overwhelming—the ginger.

  7. INSULATING CAKE STRIP: HOME EDITION – Cake strips promote more even baking, preventing doming and cracking as well as keeping the edges of a cake from overbaking. This extra insulation is particularly important if the walls of your pan are thin. 1. SOAK STRIP Soak 2 by 32-inch piece of cheesecloth or folded newspaper with water. Gently wring out excess water. 2. FOLD IN FOIL Place damp strip at bottom of 36-inch length of foil. Repeatedly fold foil over dampened strip to cover to make 2 by 36-inch strip. 3. WRAP AROUND PAN Mold insulating strip around pan and pinch ends together to seal. 4. SECURE To ensure insulating strip stays in place around pan, secure with twine.

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