February 2014
On January 21st, I hit the big 3-0, and on February 1st, I shared 30 cakes with friends. This is my tradition- one mini cake for each year of life. I hope to some day make 100 mini cakes and share them with equally crazy, vibrant people as this year, but I am perfectly content to enjoy 30 while it lasts.
Photo by Joey Kennedy.
This year, there were a few varieties counted amongst the total, one of which was a musical lemon-ginger. Since the party theme was Garnets & Ganache, the finishing touch was chocolate ganache of course.
Photos by Joey Kennedy.
Lemon Ginger Cake with Lemon Syrup & Chocolate Ganache
This recipe calls for a bundt pan. I used a large sheet pan in order to cut mini layers from the whole. If you use a sheet pan, adjust the baking time accordingly. Mine took about 25 minutes.
Ingredients
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup minced crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) organic unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups turbinado pure cane sugar
6 large organic eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
1 cup organic Greek yogurt
Lemon syrup (recipe below)
Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)
Powdered Sugar & Candied Ginger for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a standard 12-cup bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, lemon zest, ginger, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in lemon juice.
With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in three parts and Greek yogurt in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until incorporated (do not overmix). Spoon batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Firmly tap pan on a work surface to level batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes (if cake browns too quickly, tent loosely with aluminum foil).
Brush the cake with lemon syrup, to taste.
Let cake cool in pan 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Candied Lemon Slices & Syrup
*I made candied lemons for a different cake and used the reserve of syrup for this lemon-ginger cake. Since you’ll be starting from scratch, go ahead and add the candied lemons to this cake. I’m sure it will be delicious!
Ingredients
3/4 cups pure cane sugar
1/3 cup water
2 lemons, thinly sliced
Directions
Place the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Add the lemon slices and bring to the boil.
Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the syrup has thickened and lemon slices are translucent.
Pour some of the syrup* over the cake and top with the lemon slices. Allow to cool and serve.
*You can use any leftover syrup as a simple syrup in cocktails or add to homemade whipped cream and then dollop into your morning coffee.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
8 ounces organic, semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup organic heavy cream
Directions
Bring the cream to a boil, in a saucepan over medium heat.
Remove from heat and add the chocolate, whisking to combine.
Allow to cool slightly, and then pour over cake and use an offset spatula to spread evenly.
Bon Appétit!
-Quelcy
