Victorian Ginger Spice Bundt Cake
My church has an annual Christmas dinner, which usually proves to be quite the spread. As we often joke, we Baptists know how to cook!
I decided to make something special this year as my contribution, and this Victorian ginger cake proved to be the perfect thing. I made several of these over the Christmas holiday as they were so popular.
Just a few weeks prior, I had purchased an antique stoneware bundt bowl. I decided these would be a nice thing to collect as they are not only pretty to look at but also useful if there are no cracks or chips. I used the late 1800s bundt dish to make this cake.
Victorian Ginger Spice Cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan. (If using an antique stoneware dish: DO NOT preheat oven! Place dish with all contents into a cold oven so that it may gradually warm as the oven does.)
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
- In a bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake 1 hour in the oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before removing from pan. (If using a stoneware dish: remove from dish as soon as possible, elsewise the cake will likely overcook on the edges as the stoneware will retain a fair amount of heat.)
Garnish
- Sift a light coating of confectioners sugar on the top of the cake
- Fresh sugared cranberries: Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved (usually about 3 minutes).Remove from heat and stir in the desired amount of cranberries, being sure to coat them well with the sugar water mixture. Remove the cranberries from the sugar water and place them on a cookie rack to dry for about an hour. Once dry, they should be sticky to the touch. Roll the cranberries in sugar, being sure to thoroughly coat all sides of the berries. (These also make a nice little snack by themselves.)
- You may wish to add rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves to garnish the cake as well.
If you make this cake, please comment and let me know how you like it!