Almond Ginger Spice Cake

Here is my latest cake, decorated for the MisoBakes Project. This time, the challenge was to use the basketweave tip without doing any basketweave. I played around with the top for a little while on a piece of waxed paper and this is the use that I ended up liking the most. It was fun! And I don't think anyone would guess that this piping this was made for doing basketweave!

Check out the other participants' cakes on the MisoBakes Project blog, here.

When I baked this cake, I knew it would be for my family only, so I decided to try a new recipe. I took what I had on hand and transformed my basic yellow cake recipe into Almond-Ginger Cake. It turned out lovely!

Here is the recipe, in case you want to make this spice cake for your family! Enjoy!


Almond-Ginger Spice Cake

3 cups (10-1/2 ounces) sifted cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup crystallized ginger pieces (I used The Ginger People crystallized ginger chips, which I found at Williams-Sonoma)
1/2 cup ground almonds (chop 1-1/2 cup whole plain almonds in a food processor until finely chopped)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/4 cups (8-3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter, softened
6 egg yolks plus one whole large egg
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, crystallized ginger, ground almonds, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and granulated sugar. Mix on low for at least 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup cream and the butter. Mix on low until dry ingredients are moistened, then mix on medium-high for 1-1/2 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, whole egg, vanilla and the remaining 1/4 cup cream. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, adding each part on low speed and then mixing on medium-high speed for 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides and pour into a greased, parchment-lined and floured 8X3-inch round cake pan or two 8X2-inch round cake pans. Bake until top springs back when touched with a finger and toothpick inserted in the center comes back with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 45-55 minutes.

This cake tastes great with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. Fill with the vanilla buttercream and more crystallized ginger for an extra pop of flavor.