Saturday, April 25, 2009

Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

mmm...ginger and chocolate! My husband and I often nibble on uncrystallised ginger along with a piece of dark chocolate, so the thought of combining the two in a cake sounded fantastic.


This is my favourite of all the new recipes I have tried lately and will definitely get another run in our house. Soon!

Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

For the Cake
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
160g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup treacle
150g dark chocolate – 50g melted and cooled and 100g chopped
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk soured with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar)
1 tablespoon finely chopped stem ginger in syrup (available in Asian supermarkets - although I only found this after I made the cake, so I chopped up some uncrystallised naked ginger and threw that in instead)

For the Icing
75g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon strong coffee
45g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons icing sugar
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan and put it on a baking sheet (I made half the recipe and it was the perfect amount for a loaf tin).

Put the fresh ginger and sugar in a small bowl, stir and set aside.Sift the flour, baking soda and spices together.

Beat the butter and brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Pour in the treacle and beat until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted chocolate, along with the sugared ginger. Still on low speed, add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk (begin and end with the dry ingredients), mixing the batter only as much as needed to blend the ingredients. Fold in the chopped chocolate and the ginger in syrup.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool to room temperature before icing the cake.


To Make the 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. Remove the bowl and, using a small whisk, stir in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the chocolate and stir in. Transfer the bowl to a counter and let the icing sit for about 10 minutes.

Put the gingerbread, still on the rack, on a piece of baking paper or foil. Pour the icing onto the centre of the cake and spread it evenly over the top. Allow the icing to set for 30 minutes before cutting the cake.

recipe from Baking, From my home to Yours. By Dorie Greenspan.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

Kate said...

That cook looks delicious!

a good yarn said...

What a fantastic combination! I'll definitely be making this. Thanks for the recipe...Ann :)

Cathy said...

Yum...my family are ginger freaks too...ginger nuts, ginger and lemon slice...might need to add Ginger and Chocolate cake to our list...sounds delicious. CAthy

Running Thread said...

Mmmmm - an awesome combination. Quite inspired!