It continues to amaze me that for all of the cookbooks and magazines on my shelves, the recipes that continue to catch my eye are those from email or social media. While this is probably a larger digital consumption issue that I should unpack for my mental health, my latest Instagram inspiration served me incredibly well at our almost-holiday party.
That inspiration was from, where else, but Cook's Illustrated, which posted the most wonderful photo of a Gingerbread Layer Cake. And given my success with their Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake years ago, I thought this would be a great way to have a "showstopper" finale for our party.
While my frosting effort, as pictured above, would not have met Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood's high standards, for me, it was pretty good. And clearly a sign that I need to bake more layer cakes to improve my decorating skills!
In any case, the resulting cake from this recipe was fantastic – really rich, deep molasses / ginger flavor, and felt like the holiday season in cake form. I will be making this cake again and again in years ahead, especially because it was relatively simple to prepare compared to other winter dessert favorites (e.g., custard pies). The only downside of this cake – which may be its secret power – is that it's so rich and deep in flavor that after 1 – 2 slices, you will feel completely satiated.
The only change I made to the recipe directions was to bake the cake layers first to give me my oven back for additional party prep, but otherwise, followed the recipe to a T.
The cake itself was prepared with the standard sift dry ingredients, mix together wet ingredients, and then combine approach.
As I was pouring out the batter for my last cake though, I realized I didn't have as much batter for the last layer as the prior three. Racking my brain to figure out why, I realized I was using 9-inch cake pans instead of 8-inch! Oops! But it all turned out fine with the thinnest (and most uneven layer) working into the frosted cake just fine.
The "Ermine" frosting preparation takes a few more steps than a standard buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but also came together really well. First you prepare a "gel" and then after it cools, add whipped butter for a delicious vanilla frosting that complements the rich cake really well.
Now to the best part – frosting the cake! I didn't really follow the CI measurements for the amount of icing per layer, rather kind of felt my way with the amount of frosting I was putting on each layer. Ultimately, that approach turned out well with the frosting helping cover up any imperfections from the somewhat dense, wet cake slices which weren't perfectly even post-baking.
After prepared, just chill for 30 minutes for the frosting to firm up and then serve to the amazement of your guests!
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