Christmas Recipes / 6 December, 2020 / My Baba

Gingerbread Layer Cake With Salted Honey Buttercream

From gingerbread houses to gingerbread biscuits, the heady aromas of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg are a major part of Christmas. In this moist layer cake, all those familiar warming spices are in the sponge, making a wonderfully festive dessert. The salted honey buttercream adds an extra special dimension and you can decorate the cake as you like with gingerbread biscuits and fresh winter greens.

Ingredients

• 325g plain flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g granulated sugar
• 50g light brown sugar
• 3 large free-range eggs
• 100g golden syrup
• 50g black treacle
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200ml milk

For the slated honey icing:

• 120g salted butter, softened
• 2 tbsp honey
• 500g powdered icing sugar
• 4 tbsp whole milk
• ¼ tsp sea salt

To decorate (optional):

• Mini gingerbread house
• Mini gingerbread men
• Festive greens and cranberries

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line 3 x 20cm round cake tins.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, bicarb and salt. Set aside.
• Beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in well. Add the golden syrup, treacle and vanilla and beat to combine.
• Gently mix in one-third of the flour mixture, then one-third of the milk and continue alternating with the flour and milk until it’s all combined.
• Divide the batter between the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing:

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the honey and beat well. Add the powdered icing sugar and milk, then beat until smooth and mix in the salt.

To decorate:

• Divide the icing into two bowls. With one bowl of icing, spread a little between each layer of the cake and sandwich together. Spread the remaining icing in a thin layer onto the top and sides of the cake, creating a thin ‘crumb coat’. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set the icing, then spread the remaining icing on the top and sides.
• Decorate the cake as desired with gingerbread biscuits, greens and cranberries.

Created by Veggie Desserts for Leisurecooker.co.uk