Gingerbread Layer Cake
Serves 12
This is the perfect holiday party cake. The layers are dark, moist, spicy and sophisticated enough to please adult palates. The unusual cooked icing is bright, delicious, and extremely stable at room temperature. The assembled cake is tall and handsome, an impressive addition to any buffet table.
Read the entire recipe carefully before you begin. Make sure you understand what is needed at each step.
Ingredients #
For the Frosting #
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 24 tbsp (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Cake: #
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
- 1 cup brewed black coffee
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
Instructions #
Cook’s Notes: #
Use a 2-cup liquid measuring cup to portion the cake batter. You’re making 4 thin-ish cake layers here, which is much, much easier than splitting two thicker layers.
Make the Frosting: #
Whisk sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt together in medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in milk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping corners of saucepan, until mixture is boiling and is very thick, 5 to 7 minutes.
Transfer milk mixture to wide bowl and let cool completely, about 2 hours, while you bake the cake layers (or you can make this mixture the day before and keep it in the fridge).
When the mixture is completely cool, using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add cooled milk mixture and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined, scraping down bowl if necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
Make the Cake: #
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and line pans with parchment paper. This may seem fussy, but the cake is quite sticky and this preparation will ensure you can easily turn the layers out of the pans.
Whisk flour, cocoa, ground ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and cayenne together in large bowl. Whisk coffee, molasses, and baking soda in second large bowl until combined. Add sugar, oil, eggs, and fresh ginger to coffee mixture and whisk until smooth.
Whisk coffee mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Pour 1 1/3 cups batter into each prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Invert cakes onto wire rack and peel off parchment; reinvert cakes. Wipe pans clean with paper towels. Grease and flour pans and line with fresh parchment. Repeat baking and cooling process with remaining batter.
Assemble the Cake: #
Place 1 cake layer on platter or cardboard round. Using offset spatula, spread ¾ cup frosting evenly over top, right to edge of cake. Repeat stacking and frosting with 2 more cake layers and 1 1/2 cups frosting. Place final cake layer on top and spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake.
Garnish top of cake with crystallized ginger, if using. Refrigerate cake until frosting is set, about 30 minutes.
Cake can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 2 days. Let cake come to room temperature before serving. Slice into 12 slices to serve. This is a tall cake, so slim slices are best.