Growing up, dinner was followed by dessert every night, and often this was a baked creation (now you see where I get my baking bug!). One of my favourites on the regular rotation was gingerbread sheet cake with apple sauce (made with crab apples) and whipped cream. The deep, dark, rich cake blended deliciously with the tangy apple sauce and light whipped cream; as a kid I thought it was one of the best things going.
But alas, we all grow up and leave home and all its comforts, including the comfort food. I soon found myself as a young student far from the Manitoba prairies, on the Canadian east coast, in the province of Nova Scotia. Lonely for friends and family, imagine my delight when I visited the iconic tourist site of Peggy's Cove and found the cafe speciality was gingerbread and apple sauce! The thick square of cake was the size of my head and tasted, almost, as good as Mom's. A bit of home in a far off land.
For my cake, I've used my mother's original recipe and modified it for an 8" round pan. It turned out as rich and delicious as I always remembered. The key ingredient, in addition to ginger, of course, is molasses, or for the non-North Americans, black treacle. I love the motto on the treacle can, "Out of the strong came forth sweetness" (and as a pathologist, the dead lion is a bit interesting too...)
Of course, I mini-caked the recipe and made it in to a layered creation, but if you're after a quick and yummy treat, simply serve wedges of the cake with apple sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. As apple sauce would be too runny as a filling, I made stewed apples to place between my cake layers. I used thin wedges, but on reflection these didn't cut well, so small dice would be better.
The whipped cream is made with powdered sugar, which contains cornstarch. Cornstarch helps to stablise the cream, making it better for frosting. As I'm not a fan of overly sweet whipped cream, I reduced the powdered sugar and added a bit of straight cornstarch as well. But if I was going to simply serve the cream on the side, I'd skip the cornstarch all together, as it does add a slightly powdery mouthfeel.
Finally, I decorated with dried apples. I tried to cut perfect full thickness slices of apple to dry, but sometimes my slicing went awry and I ended up with half sections. Turns out this was fortuitous, as I was able to fashion little roses out of those half sections.
I hope you give this cake a try. I promise you won't regret it!
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Happy baking!
GINGERBREAD AND APPLE CAKE
makes 2 mini-cakes
THE CAKE
¾ cup (105g) flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
pinch salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ cup packed (56g) brown sugar
1 egg at room temperature
⅓ cup molasses or black treacle
⅓ cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease one 8" round cake pan and line bottom with baking paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt together and set aside.
Beat butter on medium-high until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. Add sugar and cream together for 2-3 minutes on high speed.
Add egg and continue to beat on high, occasionally stopping to scrape sides, until fully blended. Add molasses and mix well.
Add dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating mixing on low-medium until just incorporated. Scrape sides once and mix again, dribbling in hot water. Batter will be very thin.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully. Remove baking paper.
STEWED APPLES
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon white sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons cup water
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until apples are tender. Cool.
WHIPPED CREAM
1 cup whipping or thick cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and whip using whisk attachment. Occasionally scrape the sides. Watch carefully, stopping once the mixture is thick, but before it curdles and turns to butter!
ASSEMBLY
Place cake on a cutting board and create mini-cake layers by cutting 4 circles. Depending on the size of your cutter, you will need to go quite close to the edge to get the four. If your cake hasn't baked flat, use a bread knife to level the tops of the layers. Guard the offcuts with your life if you want to eat them, as they will not last long!
Place one layer, bottom side down, on serving plate. Cover with a layer whipped cream and then a layer of stewed apples. Top with a second layer of cake, bottom-side up. Repeat with other two layers to make a second cake.
For a rustic approach, cover the sides and top with a thin layer of whipped cream. I decorated with dried apple slices, some of which I had shaped into roses (a recipe for dried apples can be found here). This will leave lots of whipped cream leftover to serve with the cake. Alternatively, slather a thick layer over the sides and top.
Store in fridge, but serve at room temperature.
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