Fresh Ginger Cake
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 1 hr 15 mins
Active: 25 mins
Makes: 1 cake (8 to 10 servings)
By Maxie's Supper Club
We know, one doesn’t associate good food from the Big Easy with upstate New York, but Maxie’s Supper Club is one of those places with food that’s capable of transporting you in mere forkfuls. This ginger cake can be thrown together in a few minutes, but it’s so delicious people will think you’ve been slaving in the kitchen all day.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup mild molasses
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 ounces fresh ginger, peeled, grated, and finely chopped (from a 4-inch piece)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with butter and flour; set aside.
- Whisk together flour, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper in a medium bowl to break up any lumps and aerate; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together molasses, sugar, and oil.
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, stir in baking soda, and then mix in molasses mixture. Remove from heat and add ginger.
- Gradually whisk dry ingredients into batter. Add eggs and continue mixing until everything is thoroughly combined. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing the cake from the pan.
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
Very Good!!!
Sounds like a very good recipe.....any ideas on a frosting? My family has to have a frosting.
Douglasmoran: At Maxie's they serve this cake without frosting because it is really moist and delicious on its own. It'd be great accompanied by some applesauce or a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream.
If your family insists on frosting, go for something simple: cut the cake in half horizontally, whip up a pint of whipped cream with 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar, and spread the whipped cream between the layers. Bottom line is keep it simple with this cake and let it do all the talking!
This cake was amazing. Great crumb, easy to whip up and tasted better the next day. Totally a keeper.
I made this cake yesterday and it is superb. I substituted apple sauce for the oil and added a little crystallized ginger. The next time, I'll try 1/4 tsp. cayenne instead of the black pepper. It's wonderful served with lemon curd.
This sounds really good. There's a resto in SF (interestingly enough called CHOW) that serves a great ginger cake with caramel sauce. Would your family accept sauce instead of frosting, Douglas?
Sounds good. Will make this soon!
I'm making this now and have no idea what "3 ounces" of grated ginger translates to, I'm totally winging it... if anyone has a more practical measure (inches of whole ginger or TBsp measure of grated) that would be a great help.
Ivy, I looked at our testing records and in our recipes tests, 4 inches of fresh ginger equaled 3 ounces. I've adjusted the recipe to add that information. Let us know how it turns out!
Thanks, Regan. Turns out that's what felt about right to me - though for less experienced bakers, given the odd knobbiness of ginger, probably still a good idea to convert to Tbsp grated (about 1 heaping? 2 level? I forgot... yesterday was so long ago). Another note: I chopped about 10 minutes off the minimum baking time, and it still seemed a bit on the dry side. But I soaked my piece with some kumquat syrup I made, and that was pretty delicious. Next time I'll try making it with at least part butter, and it'll probably be more like the cake at Chow.
I made this yesterday and it's wonderful. Moist and yummy. thanks for the recipe.
Excellent and so easy to make. This is a keeper.
Jacquelynne: They accept caramel sauce in heartbeat-I'd have to make it quick before and apply it to the cake before they ate it.
There is a very good fresh ginger cake recipe in Joy of Cooking that calls for 1/2 cup of ginger for an 8" square pan. I don't what that translates to in ounces or inches, but perhaps it is a similar amount?
I'll have to try this recipe soon to see how they compare.
Don't spoil it with frosting! The appropriate topping for gingerbread (or cake) is a tart/sweet lemon pudding or sauce. Perfect!
If this tastes anything like the cake at Chow, I can't wait to try it. All it would need is some fresh whipped cream. Yum!
I made this yesterday for a Mother's Day picnic today. It's lovely with a power punch of ginger - I love it! I baked it in a square pan...and cut it into 16 serving pieces to pack for the picnic...so, I had to taste it! This recipe is a keeper.
What is "mild" molasses as called for in this recipe? The only kind I have is a bottle I bought around Christmas time from our health food store, and it seems dark and pungent. It's a brand called Wholesome Sweeteners and is labeled as organic and unsulphured. I noticed that when I made my usual spice cookies last Christmas, they were a little stronger tasting than usual (not really a bad thing), so I'm thinking that this brand may not be the "mild" molasses called for in the recipe. I always thought molasses was just molasses, but is there a mild type and a strong type?
susan
you may have bought "blackstrap" molasses, which is much darker & more concentrated, and very bitter and earthy in comparison to the flavor of mild molasses. there's actually a big difference not only in taste, but in viscosity as well...you definitely don't want to just use them interchangeably. you'll wind up with a very gummy, bitter cake :)
i'd suggest buying a bottle of the mild stuff.
I've made this cake several times and love it! It's the recipe I've been looking for (is just like a cake that I used to buy and was dying to know how to make). I figured out the first time I made it that 3 ounces of ginger is equal to about 6 Tbsp. of very finely grated ginger. Hope that helps.
I made this cake once the original way and once using my variation of the recipe where I substituted Cane Syrup for the Moleasses and I added twice as much fresh Ginger as called for. For a lighter cake, try using cake flour instead of AP flour.
I've been looking up ginger cake recipes lately for my sister's birthday that is coming up soon and in a recipe book i found a great lemon butter sauce that they recommend for any ginger cake. The book is called Baking Boot Camp, basically it's just lemon juice, sugar, water, vanilla, butter and lemon zest. I can't wait to try this cake!
This cake was simply fantastic. Turned out exactly as I thought it would. Dark, mildly-sweet, moist and delicious. Couldn't have been easier although I'd be interested in the chemistry of putting the baking soda and sugars in boiling water.
I'll definitely make it again and top with just a splat of whipped cream. Thanks!
I made this again for my son and daughter-in-law. It was gone in less than 24 hours. I substituted pure maple syrup for the molasses as I didn't quite have enough molasses. I also used grapeseed oil instead of vegetable oil. Since I used pure maple syrup, I cut down on the sugar and used 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4. Still very yummy! It's always a hit.
This is a good looking recipe; but my comment is about the "Print" option. Usually, websites that offer a "Print" option take you to a new page in which only the recipe is seen, plus any credits. This one printed 4 pps of comments, in unnecessary color. Seems a waste to me.
If I'd been less lazy, I could have selected and copied the relevant recipe, pasted it into a word processor, and printed it from there. I'll be more wary next time.
Yummy. Was a bit nervous it would not come out right but it was wonderful. Was stumped too on the oz of grated ginger root but all came together to be moist and fun! I'll be making it again.
Just a little information from a newcomer. On dried ground ginger vs. fresh ginger root: 3 oz. fresh chopped ginger root is equal to 7 1/2 tablespoons of dried ground ginger.
This recipe is fantastic!! The cake actually gets better as it sits for a few days - just wrap it well. I can't wait to make this again!
really good, but a bit oily. next time i'll substitue some of the oil for apple sauce as someone suggested. I also just did 1/2 cup molasses + 1/4 cup corn syrup.
does anyone know why this recipe has the step with the hot water and the baking soda. i've never done that before. whatever the reason, it turns out good.
Love this recipe! And, as piegirl said, it gets better a few days in.
The first time I made this, in a 9-inch round, non-stick cake pan, I found it a little oily too. The second time I made it in an 8-inch, square, glass pan and it was perfect and stayed moist for days. Maybe that's a simple solution for folks.