Gingerbread

I was not able to get my gingerbread fix over Christmas due to the dozens of cookies still hanging around, so I made sure to ring in of the New Year with this seasonal treat. For me a good gingerbread needs to be moist, heavily spiced, and served with a contrasting set of flavors to lighten up the heft of the ginger. Usually, I turn to lemon, or to something similar that is also light and fruity. This year I settled on a lemon curd and pomegranate infused whipped cream to offset this honey and coffee liqueur infused, candied ginger studded cake.

Recipe adapted from Beth Henspenger’s The Bread Bible.

Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups Flour
2 tbsp ground Ginger
2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp freshly ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup diced Candied Ginger + some sliced Candied Ginger for decorating
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Orange
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup Coffee Liqueur
1/4 cup Honey
3/4 cup Molasses
3/4 cup Maple Syrup
3 Eggs
3 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Boiling Water
1 cup Heavy (Whipping) Cream
1 cup Lemon Curd
1 tbsp Pomegranate Juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 2 circular cake pans of 9″ in diameter.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, spices, salt, zest, and candied ginger. Do not add the baking soda yet.
In a sauce pan on the stove top combine the molasses, maple syrup, honey, butter, coffee liqueur, and canola oil until the butter is melted and well combined with the rest of the liquids.
Pour the hot liquids into the middle of the dry ingredients, and beat them together until well combined.
Beat in the eggs.
Stir the baking soda into 1 cup of boiling water.
Pour the boiling water into the cake batter, and quickly mix it in.
Distribute the cake batter evenly into the two pans.
Bake the cakes for 25 – 35 minutes.
Allow the cakes to cool.