Categories: cakes

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger in syrup (available in Asian markets and some supermarkets) (optional)
• Icing:
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon strong coffee
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

1. Prep: position oven rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°; butter a 9 inch square baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

2. Cake: Add fresh ginger and sugar in a small bowl; stir and set aside.

3. In another larger bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and spices together.

4. Working with a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together at medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

5. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes inches.

6. Pour in molasses; beat until smooth.

7. Decrease speed to low; add in melted chocolate, along with sugared ginger.

8. Still on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients), mixing the batter only as much as needed to blend ingredients.

9. Fold in the chopped chocolate and the ginger in syrup (if using); pour batter into pan.

10. Bake for about 40 or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and pick comes out clean.

11. Don’t be concerned if the cake is domed and cracked?it will settle down as it cools.

12. Transfer cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes, then unmold cake.

13. Turn cake right side up to cool to room temperature before icing the cake (the edges of the cake might be quite brown, but you can trim them after you ice the cake).

14. Icing: Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, put the chocolate and coffee in the bowl, and stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted.

15. Remove the bowl and , using small whisk, stir in the butter 1 tablespoons at a time.

16. Sift the powdered sugar over the chocolate and stir in; transfer the bowl to a counter and let the icing sit for about 10 minutes.

17. Put the gingerbread, still on the rack, on a piece of wax paper or foil.

18. Pour the icing onto the center of the cake and use a long metal spatula to spread the icing evenly over the top; let icing set for 30 minutes.

19. If the edges of the cake are overbaked, now is the time to trim them; then cut the gingerbread into 9 even pieces.

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