English Gingerbread Cake

English Gingerbread Cake

From: Rose’s Heavenly Cakes

Ingredients

For Cake Batter

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups golden syrup or light corn syrup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, preferably Muscovado
1 heaping Tbsp. orange marmalade
2 large eggs at room temp.
2/3 cup milk
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cake flour (or bleached all-purpose), sifted
1 cup minus 1 Tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt

For Lemon Butter Syrup:

3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (65 to 75 degrees F)

Instructions

Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325. In a small heavy saucepan, stir together the butter, golden syrup, sugar, and marmalade over medium-low heat until melted. Set aside uncovered until just barely warm, about 10 minutes. Whisk in eggs and milk.

To make the batter, in a large bowl, whisk the two flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter mixture, stirring with a large silicone spatula until smooth (consistency of thick soup). Using the spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake cake for 50-60 min., or until wire cake tester comes out clean from the center and cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. While cake cools, begin syrup.

For syrup: In a small pan, stir together the sugar, lemon juice, and butter. Heat over medium-low, stirring until the butter’s melted and the sugar dissolves. Brush half the syrup over the top of the cake. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Brush the bottom with the remaining syrup. To prevent splitting, invert the cake onto a serving plate so the top is up. For extra moistness, cover the cake with plastic wrap while still hot and allow it to cool (I did this–don’t be scared, it works!). Wrap airtight for 24 hours before serving (I did not do this).