Ginger Spice Cake and Wishing For Snow.

I love the snow. Growing up in New England, I now associate winter with huge blizzards, ice skating, ski trips, and snow days. Now that I’ve migrated to the Tidewater snowstorms are definitely a much rarer occurrence, much to my dismay. There are few things better in life than relaxing on a snowy afternoon with a hot beverage, a slice of ginger spice cake, and a good book. A highlight of the winter months that has been missing these past few years as snow falls in Virginia have been few and far between

Spice cakes are a staple around our home during the winter, and they can be the perfect snow day fuel.

This ginger spice cake recipe is easy to make and rarely needs icing so you can grab a piece in your gloved hand and not worry about making a mess as you head back out to finish shoveling or start a snowball fight. The kick of ginger and punch of cinnamon help awaken senses and the easily available carbs help replenish energy stores depleted from a long morning of sledding or making snowmen.

Beyond ease of preparation, ginger spice cake recipes like the one in this post offer a ton of room for experimentation. Try adding dried fruits like raisins, nuts, or shredded carrots to the cake for an even heartier crumb. I like to cut the cake in half sometimes and spread a layer of mascarpone icing through the middle to make it even more luxurious. Or you can punch up the spice by adding a little cayenne, increasing the ginger, or adding things like nutmeg and clove.

Take your ginger cake to the next level with crystallized ginger!

One great way to make this cake extra special is to add a heaping helping of chopped crystallized ginger to the batter before baking. Crystallized or candied ginger, is delicious, spicy, and retains its structure throughout the baking process, giving the finished cake a pop of flavor in each bite.

You can usually find crystallized ginger in the bulk nuts/dried fruit section of your local grocer. Not every grocery store will carry it, and I recommend trying higher-end grocery brands. A quick search on Instacart brought up a number of options for crystallized ginger available locally for delivery in my area.

While experimenting with this recipe is recommended and a lot of fun, you can make this recipe with no additions and still end up with an absolutely delicious cake. One note before I get into the recipe, this batter will seem thinner than you’d expect for a cake batter, don’t worry it will turn out just fine!

Ginger Spice Cake and Wishing For Snow.

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Recipe by Paul Kostandin Course: DessertCuisine: American, FrenchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Ginger spice cake is a staple around our home in winter, and it can be great snow day fuel. Rich, spicy, and the perfect way to warm up after sledding or a snowball fight. Try this recipe today, so you’ll be ready just in case it snows!

Ingredients

• For the cake.

• 4 oz 4 unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup 1/2 dark brown sugar

• 1/4 cup 1/4 molasses

• 3/4 cup 3/4 self rising flour

• 1 tbsp 1 ground ginger

• 1 tsp 1 cinnamon

• 1/8 tsp 1/8 cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 salt

• 1 each 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup 1/2 milk

• To garnish.
• Optional additions (add any 1 or all 4 of these to spicy up your cake).

• 1/2 cup 1/2 carrots, shredded

• 1/4 cup 1/4 raisins or sultanas

• 1/2 cup 1/2 walnuts, chopped

• 1/4 cup 1/4 crystalized ginger, chopped finely

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 325°F.
• In a small sauce pot, melt the butter, brown sugar and molasses, stir well to completely combine. Once melted allow the mixture to cool slightly for a few minutes.
• In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients and the spices.
• Whisk the melted butter mixture into the flour.
• Whisk the egg into the batter and then the milk.
• Transfer the batter to a greased 9″ cake tin and bake for 30-40 minutes at 325ºF.
• Allow the cake to cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.

Notes

Enjoy the recipe, let me know in the comments what substitutions or alterations worked well for you.

Cheers!

pdk.

ps. You don’t have to use a snowflake mold with your cake, I’m just trying to put a snowy type of energy into the world and hoping it might yield flurries!