Saturday, December 15, 2012
VEGAN ESPRESSO & TRIPLE-GINGER CAKE FROM "WORLD VEGAN FEAST"
This ginger cake is the cosmopolitan cousin of the familiar gingerbread many of us grew up with. The cake itself is very light in texture (you would definitely not call this “bread”!) and infused with a generous amount of both fresh and ground dried ginger. Topped off with a fluffy espresso frosting and a plenty of sweet-hot organic candied ginger, this cake always gets rave reviews (and recipe requests) at potlucks and community get-togethers. Tasters are pleasantly surprised at the pairing of coffee and ginger and keep going back for more. But, really, how many times have we enjoyed a cup of coffee with a ginger cookie or a piece of gingerbread? It seemed like a match made in heaven to me and I think I was right.
BRYANNA’S
From my book “World Vegan Feast” © Bryanna Clark Grogan 2011
From my book “World Vegan Feast” © Bryanna Clark Grogan 2011
Serves 9
Wet
Mixture:
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup fancy (light) molasses
1/2 cup soft brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup vegan butter (try my homemade palm oil-free Buttah) or oil
1/4 cup unsweetened smooth applesauce
1/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup nondairy milk
3 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
Dry
Mixture:
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (do not use ordinary whole wheat flour or the cake will be tough)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (do not use ordinary whole wheat flour or the cake will be tough)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Espresso
Frosting:
1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules (or
2 tablespoons good-quality instant coffee granules)
2 tablespoons softened vegan butter (try my homemade palm oil-free Buttah)
2 3/4 tablespoons nondairy milk
2 cups organic powdered sugar
NOTE: If you have no instant espresso powder and you can make espresso at home, you can use 8 1/4 teaspoons cold liquid espresso as the TOTAL liquid and omit the nondairy milk.
NOTE: If you have no instant espresso powder and you can make espresso at home, you can use 8 1/4 teaspoons cold liquid espresso as the TOTAL liquid and omit the nondairy milk.
Candied
Ginger Garnish:
1 cup chopped candied (crystallized) ginger
Tip: Organic candied ginger has a stronger ginger flavor and “bite” to
it than the ordinary variety, so if you really like ginger, look for it!
Oil a 9-inch square cake pan and line the
bottom with baking parchment cut to fit. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large heatproof bowl, batter bowl or measuring pitcher, pour the boiling
water over the vegan butter (or oil) and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the
molasses, brown sugar, applesauce, milk and grated fresh ginger.
In another bowl, stir together the flours
with the baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt and allspice. Add this to
the molasses mixture in two additions, stirring until smooth. Transfer the
batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a cake
tester comes out clean when inserted into the center. Cool thoroughly on a
rack.
To make the Espresso Frosting, pour the
boiling water into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the
espresso or coffee granules and stir to dissolve. Add the vegan butter and milk.
Whisk together well. With a hand-held electric mixer or the whip attachment to
your mixer, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the frosting is creamy
and smooth. Spread it immediately over the top of cooled cake (not the sides)
so that icing drips over the sides but does not cover them completely. Sprinkle
the top evenly with the chopped candied ginger. Cut into 9 squares to serve.
Enjoy!
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9 comments:
In the frosting recipe, the measurement for the 'milk is off. But I still can't wait to try this. My husband loves ginger and coffee but I've never tried mixing the two together. Brilliant! I don't have instant espresso. I have an espresso machine. Do you think if I pulled a shot (maybe a double or triple?) and reduced the amount of milk that I could get it to turn out as you intended?
EEK! Thanks for the heads-up! It should read 2 and 3/4 tablespoons milk! It will be fixed by the time you read this! If you use 8 1/4 teaspoons cold liquid espresso as the *total* liquid, that should do it.
It's fixed!
Looks tasty, I can't wait to try this.A couple mentions of your palm oil free buttery spread: a while back you alluded to a possible softer spreadable version of it.Did I miss it, is it still in the works or been abandoned? Kind of off topic, sorry.
Sunday, Driver-- no problem! It just sort of got lost in the shuffle. I will add it to my Buttah page. All you do for my "tub version", is use 1 1/4 cups oil and only 81.6 g (2.88 ounces) cocoa butter.
I love this cake - wish I was eating a piece right now!
I wish you were here and I'd make you some!
Is it possible to replace white flour with whole wheat pastry flour exp : 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour.
Since this cake will be given as a gift to a person who has minimal liking for butter frosting, any other simple topping you can suggest.
thanks
Abby, the icing is an integral part of this cake, so, if she doesn'tlike butter frosting, maybe you better go with the other gingerbread cake recipe.
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