Super Moist Gingerbread Cake With Caramel Icing Food

EASY SPICED GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH CARAMEL FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Lightly grease and line an 8-inch cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars for a few minutes until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat again, scraping down the sides, until combined. Add molasses and mix on low until combined.
• In a separate mixing bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Add your dry ingredients to your butter mixture and mix on low speed. Slowly pour in your milk.
• Once the mixture is combined, pour your cake batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make your chocolate ginger cookie crumbs, line a cookie or oven tray with baking or parchment paper. Add your plain flour, cornflour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cocoa powder to a mixing bowl. Melt your butter, then add to your flour mixture and stir until lumpy crumbs form. Spread out onto prepared tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
• To make your caramel frosting, beat your butter until creamy, then sift in the icing sugar, one cup at a time. Then add your caramel sauce and beat until a fluffy frosting forms. If it's too thick, you could add a tablespoon of milk, or too thin, an extra tablespoon of sugar. Frost the top of your cake, then generously sprinkle over your chocolate ginger crumbs.

GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH CARAMEL BISCUIT ICING

Steps:

• Measure the milk and treacle into a saucepan (grease the measuring spoon with a little oil first and the treacle will easily slide off). Bring to a gentle simmer and stir until combined, then set aside to cool. Meanwhile, grease 3 x 20cm loose-bottomed cake tins with a little oil and line the bases with baking parchment (if you don't have enough cake tins, see tip). If the tins are any shallower than 4cm, line the sides with a deep collar too. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Measure the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and spices into a large bowl, then add ½ tsp fine salt. Mix the dry ingredients together with a large whisk; if there are any large lumps of sugar, squeeze these through your fingers until you have an even, sandy-textured mixture.
• In a jug, whisk the oil, buttermilk, eggs, rum and vanilla. Add the milk and treacle mixture, and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and whisk into a smooth batter. Divide between the tins and bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. You may have to swap the cakes over to cook evenly, but don't do this until they've had at least 20 mins cooking. Cool the cakes in their tins for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack, peel off the parchment and leave to cool completely. Once cooled, you can wrap the sponges in cling film and store in a cool place for 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months - the texture and flavour will be all the better for it.
• To make the icing, put the butter and half the icing sugar in a large bowl. Mash together roughly with a spatula, then whizz with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar, the cream cheese, vanilla bean extract and biscuit spread. Mix again until smooth and evenly mixed. Transfer half the icing to another bowl and set aside. Use the remaining icing to stack the cakes and cover the entire outside in a thin layer - don't worry about making the cake look too neat at this stage, as any crumbs trapped in the icing will be covered in the final coat. Chill the cake for 30 mins and the remaining icing for 20 mins (remove the icing from the fridge 10 mins before the cake to soften a little).
• When the icing on the cake is firm, remove it from the fridge and use the remaining icing to cover the cake. Smooth the sides using a palette knife, but leave peaks and dips on top for your snow scene. Top the cake generously with desiccated coconut, a dusting of sieved icing sugar and some edible glitter, if you like, then decorate the top and sides with gingerbread shapes (see tip). If you're not eating the cake within a few hours, store it in the fridge, but bring back to room temperature before serving. Wlll keep for 2 days.

GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 9x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the molasses and egg. Beat until smooth.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
• Add about ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until just combined (don't overmix). Add half the water, followed by another third of the dry ingredients. Pour in the remaining water and add the final third of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
• Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake 45-50 minutes. (Check the cake after about 30 minutes; cover with aluminum foil if the edges are getting too dark.) The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove from the oven and let cool as you make the Salted Caramel Buttercream.
• Melt the caramels, butter, and milk in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring after each melting. Set aside.
• Combine the butter, sugar, salt, and caramel sauce in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can reserve some of the caramel sauce to use as a caramel drizzle.)
• Start mixing on low speed until the sugar is incorporated with the butter. Increase the mixing speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Adjust the consistency with milk as needed.
• Spread the buttercream over the cooled gingerbread cake.
• Store unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container and bring it back to room temperature before using it to pipe or frost.

SUPER MOIST GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH CARAMEL ICING

Steps:

• Mix brown sugar, molasses, 1/4 c. water and butter; add eggs.
• Mix in dry ingredients; add hot water last.
• Pour batter into a greased 9×13 cake pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Top with Quick Caramel Icing.

GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with a parchment round.
• Stir together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
• Combine the brown sugar and butter in another large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined (it's fine if the mixture looks a little curdled).
• Stir the molasses into the boiling water in a large spouted measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the molasses mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase the speed to medium and beat just until smooth.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 22 to 27 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely in the pans on a wire rack. Once cool, invert the cakes onto the rack, then peel off and discard the parchment.
• For the frosting: Combine the butter and cream cheese in a clean mixer bowl. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the confectioner's' sugar, beating until combined. Add the vanilla and gradually increase the speed to high. Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, adding up to 1 tablespoon of milk if needed so the frosting is spreadable.
• Place one cake layer flat-side down on a cake stand or platter. Top with about 3/4 cup of the frosting, spreading almost to the edges using an offset spatula. Place the remaining cake layer on top, flat-side up. Spread the remaining frosting on the entire cake and smooth the top and sides with the offset spatula. Refrigerate the cake while you decorate the gingerbread cookies.
• For the decorations: Meanwhile, microwave the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl until just melted. (Alternatively, melt the chips in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; do not let bowl touch the water.) Let cool slightly and put into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip (or use a plastic ziptop bag with the corner snipped off). Pipe eyes and smiles on the gingerbread cookie faces.
• Arrange the merry gingerbread men side by side around the bottom edge of the cake, pressing in slightly to adhere. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the nonpareils.

MOIST GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Sift flour, spices and salt; stir in dates and ginger.
• Melt molasses and butter Beat egg with sugar.
• Add the two mixtures (above) alternately to dry ingredients, beating all the time.
• Dissolve baking soda in milk; stirr into mixture.
• Pour in 8" square pan lined with non-stick baking paper. Level top and bake at 350 F 45-50 minutes. Let cool on wire rack before removing from pan.
• Remove baking paper and wrap in foil. Store in air-tight container up to 8 weeks.

GINGER CAKE WITH CARAMEL FROSTING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Butter and line a 23cm round cake tin. Put the butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a large pan and gently heat, stirring until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 mins.
• Stir in the eggs and milk, then sift in the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well, then pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 50 mins-1 hr until the cake is firm to the touch and springs back when pressed in the centre. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack.
• Put the frosting ingredients in a small pan over a medium heat and stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Increase the heat and boil hard for 3-4 mins, stirring occasionally; at this stage the frosting should look like runny custard. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool for 30 mins. Beat with an electric whisk until thick and spreadable. Spread over the cooled cake and decorate with crystallised ginger.

SUPER MOIST GINGER CAKE

Steps:

• Melt butter and golden syrup, set aside.
• Into a large bowl, sift flours, bi-carb of soda, ginger, cinnamon,mixed spice and sugar. Stir to combine.
• Add eggs and milk. Beat well.
• Add melted butter and syrup and mix well to combine.
• Grease and line 2 loaf tins (approx 23cm x 12 cms). Divide mix evenly between the 2 tins.
• Bake in a moderate oven (180 deg C / 350 deg F) for about 50 mins or until top is golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 mins before removing.