Gingerbread bundt cake

A great Thanksgiving dessert! This decadent gingerbread cake with brown butter glaze is meant to feed a crowd, and it is perfect for autumn baking when you want to fill the house with the smell of wonderful spices. The “triple” in the title refers to fresh, ground and candied ginger, which means the ginger flavour is woven throughout the cake.

• Recipe Information •

Serves 16 to 20 (Makes one 10-cup/2.5 L Bundt cake)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 80 minutes

• Ingredients •

Cake:

• 1½ cups (300 g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk
• ½ cup (130 g) fancy molasses
• 4 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp (12 g) finely grated fresh ginger
• 2½ cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp (6 g) ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, melted (still warm is OK)
• ¼ cup (40 g) chopped candied ginger

Brown Butter Glaze:

• 6 Tbsp (90 g) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (130 g) icing sugar
• 2 Tbsp (30 mL) 1% or 2% milk

• Directions •

1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a 10-cup (2.5 L) Bundt pan and dust it with flour, tapping out any excess.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar, buttermilk, molasses, eggs and fresh ginger until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the batter and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the melted butter and then the candied ginger. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 75 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

3. Cool the cake in its pan on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes and then turn it out onto the rack to cool completely before glazing.

4. For the glaze, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it froths and then subsides and the liquid turns a golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the butter through a fine-mesh sieve. Let it cool for 5 minutes and then whisk in the icing sugar and milk until smooth. Pour over the cake, letting the glaze slowly drip down.

5. Let the glaze set for an hour before serving or for 3 hours before covering to serve later. The cake will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days.