Dark, dark, dark. Moist and spicy. Sweet, but not overly so. It would be so sad if you only made it at the holidays.
This recipe is a hybrid of two out of NYC: “Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread” and “The Marrow’s Ginger Stout Cake” from the New York Times, which has the unique instruction to butter the bundt pan and dust it with sugar. Let me just say, don’t do that.
Against my better judgement, I buttered the pan and sprinkled it with sugar, just like the NYT recipe said. Well, we all know what butter + sugar + heat gives us, right? Caramel. Fast forward through the batter, the baking, to flipping onto the cooling rack. It didn’t sound or feel quite right, and when I lifted the pan…most of the top gripped tight to the pan, no doubt aided by the melted sugar and butter beginning to cool and harden. Still delicious, but not winning any bundt pan beauty contests.
On to the Gramercy Tavern recipe, which is very similar ingredient-wise, and instructs for the usual butter + flouring of the pan. I rolled the dice and went with my baking spray. No problems.
So, here you are. An awesome gingerbread that will not stick in your pan.
Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tip:
- To peel ginger the easy way, use the edge of a regular soup spoon. The fine skin comes right off and you can’t hurt yourself with the edge of a spoon. Grate with a microplane grater – the best tool for grating and zesting.
- Delicious sugar really does make better baked goods. Try India Tree’s Golden Bakers, Light and Dark Muscovado. (At Joe’s Parkway in Bozeman!) As with most ingredients, taste first. If you don’t like the flavor (of your sugar, flour, spices, you name it), move on to an alternative. No sense spending any more time on ingredients that are off or flavorless.
- When it’s just me and a cake, I take a tip from a local bakery and wrap individual slices in plastic wrap, ready to go. I keep some at room temperature, and the rest go into a freezer bag and into cold storage for us to find a month from now.
- For high altitude (e.g. Bozeman at 5000 ft), add 1 Tablespoon flour, reduce baking powder to 1 teaspoon, and up the oven temp to approx. 365 degrees F.
Ingredients
- 1 cup stout beer
- 1 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 Tablespoons peeled ginger, freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use sunflower)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan (10 - 12 cup capacity), or use baking spray.
- Add stout and molasses to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Carefully whisk in the baking soda - it will bubble up, so be careful. Let cool to room temperature.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside
- In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugars, eggs, fresh ginger, and vanilla for 3 minutes. Add the oil and cooled molasses-beer mixture. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 - 65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then flip onto a cooling rack.
