Dessert

Alison Roman's golden ginger cake

Name: Alison Roman's golden ginger cake recipe
Yield: 1 23cm cake
Ingredients: Cooking spray or softened butter, for greasing; Demerara, raw or white sugar, for sprinkling; 400g plain flour; 3 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp bicarb soda; 170g unsalted butter, at room temperature; 210g light brown sugar; 80g molasses; 50g ginger; 2 large eggs; 125ml buttermilk; 50.00 ml vegetable or melted coconut oil

1 rating

1 23cm cake

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by Alison Roman

WRITER

May 16, 2023

“I could easily see this cake turning up at afternoon teas or late lunches, or just sitting on your kitchen counter for you to slice off a sliver every time you walk by. If you’ve ever wished one of those ginger molasses cookies was a cake, well, have I got the cake for you. A friend described it as a ‘quiet, dignified cake’, having ‘good springiness’, with the turmeric adding a ‘pleasant mustiness, like finding yourself alone in the back halls of a museum on a sunny day’. Took the words right out of my mouth.”

Cooking spray or softened butter, for greasing
Demerara, raw or white sugar, for sprinkling
400g plain flour
3 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
210g light brown sugar
80g molasses
10cm piece (50g) fresh ginger, finely grated
2 large eggs
125ml buttermilk
2 1/2 tbs vegetable or melted coconut oil

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Spray a 23cm springform tin or cake tin with cooking spray (or grease with softened butter) and sprinkle with a bit of sugar to coat the interior. Tap out the excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, turmeric, 1 1/2 tsp fine salt, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarb.
2.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a large bowl and an electric handheld mixer), beat together the butter, brown sugar, molasses and ginger for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light, fluffy and the colour of a very pale latte, periodically scraping down the side of the bowl with a spatula to make sure all the ingredients are mixing properly.
3.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and keep beating for about 5 minutes, until the mixture looks extremely light and fluffy, almost like cake frosting. It might look a little broken or separated, but it will come together, I promise.
4.

In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk and oil. With the mixer on low speed, beat one-third of the flour mixture into the cake batter, followed by half the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with one-third of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk mixture and remaining flour.
5.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and scatter with enough demerara sugar to lightly cover the top. Bake, rotating the pan front to back once or twice, for 50-55 minutes, until the cake has started to pull away from the side of the tin, is evenly golden brown on top, and springs back ever so slightly when pressed.
6.

Let the cake cool completely before unmoulding on a wire rack, if you have one. (If you don’t, just let it cool on the benchtop.)

Review 1

Recipe Notes

Eat with: A bottle of amaro.

The cake can be baked 2-3 days ahead; wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. After day 3, it would greatly benefit from a quick toast in a buttered frypan before eating.