Cajun Ginger Cake
"Another wonderful recipe from Betty Fussell's "I Hear America Cooking," this cake is rich with butter and dark molasses, but lightened with eggs and smoothed with sour cream. Cooking time does not include time for cake to cool."
photo by troyh
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
8-10
ingredients
- 1⁄2 lb unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1⁄2 cup blackstrap molasses
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1⁄2 cup sour cream
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄2 cup pecans, chopped
- powdered sugar
directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cream together butter and brown sugar.
- Beat in the molasses, the sour cream, the ginger and the egg yolks.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Stir gradually into molasses mixture until well blended.
- Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, and fold into batter.
- Fold in nuts.
- Generously butter a 9 x 9 x 2" baking pan.
- Pour in batter and smooth top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
- Cool briefly in pan, then invert onto rack.
- Sieve powdered sugar on top of cake and enjoy.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I too had a few problems with the cake but the taste and aroma are so fantastic that it makes up for it. I only have an 8x8 square pan and have used this successfully with all recipes that require a 9x9 square pan until now. I don't believe it be an issue with my oven since I have never had problems before. After 30 minutes of cooking the cake was still batter in the middle so I stuck it back in for another 10 minutes. Still wobbly in the middle so it went back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes and only then was it done. By that time though the middle had completely sunk. That didn't matter after cutting into 1.5 inch squares and dusting with powdered sugar. The edges are a little crunchy for my taste but all in all a wonderful recipe. -
This cake had great flavor but I found that it was not sweet enough for out tastes, and for some reason the cake got too overdone around the edges which usually does not happen in my convection oven, not to worry my DH will enjoy it with ice cream. Thanks Chef Kate!...Kitten:) -
Ok so I made a couple of small, minor booboos, but in the end this came out so utterly delicious. i dont think my changes made a drastic difference. I ended up using a little less butter and a bit more sour cream b/c I didnt realize I didnt have quite enough butter. I took Gay's suggestion and used a robust molasses instead of the blackstrap. I made this in a round pan instead of a square one simply b/c i dont have a square pan, and put the extra batter in cupcake tins haha :) Delicious cake. We served with Ice cream and powdered sugar, but didnt eat it with the ice cream after the first serving b/c it was delicious on its own! Lovely with a dusting of powdered sugar. Thanks for this recipe! It's a definite keeper! -
Thanks for sharing your tasty recipe Chef Kate. I enjoyed this gingerbread very much and will certainly be making this again. The only change I made to your recipe was to substitued 1/4 cup of slivered candied ginger for the nuts, as my dh doesn't eat nuts. I also added 1/8 cup of flour to the candied ginger before adding to the batter. -
Few problems with this, but the flavor was good. First, there was no mention of when to put in the sour cream or the ginger so i added them after the egg yolks. Also, I only have one bowl for my stand mixer, so I always hate it when whipped egg whites are called for after I've messed up my bowl with other mixing. Do yourself a favor and remember to mix these first. Finally the cake sunk for me a little. I think it would have benefited from putting some flour on the nuts, they seemed to travel to the center of the cake and sink. And while I thought the blackstrap molasses was too strong and I would use regular in the future, others didn't mind it as much. Everyone loved the perfectly crisped exterior of the cake and the moist inside. I think it would be best served with a whiskey flavored whipped cream, but we served with ice cream. Something else to cut the density of the cake is nice.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Chef Kate
Annapolis, 60
<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
