Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread

Much to my surprise, this is one of my daughter's favorite cakes.  The flavor is kind of intense, so I wasn't sure it was kid-friendly (shows what I know).  This cake is super moist and seems to magically get moister and more flavorful with every passing day.  Plus the Guinness will help the little ones fall fast asleep (not really...the alcohol bakes off and I'm sure the sugar will have them bouncing off the walls as usual).

GRAMERCY TAVERN GINGERBREAD
Serves 8 to 10

1 cup Guinness stout or oatmeal stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap), Grandma’s green label is good
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup canola oil (or other tasteless oil)

for serving (optional):

confectioners’ sugar for dusting

unsweetened whipped cream

1.      Preheat oven to 350° F. Generously butter a 10-inch (10-12 cup) bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

2.      Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large* saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature. *Do use a large saucepan (the mixture will bubble up when the baking soda is added).

3.      Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a medium bowl.

4.      In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.

5.      Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

6.      Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.

Better if made a day ahead. It will keep for 3 days, covered, at room temperature.

Copyright © Gramercy Tavern, New York, NY

this is a gingerbread I made using a 3-cup mini bundt pan

This recipe will yield 4 3-cup cakes or 2 6-cup cakes,which are nice sizes for gift giving.  Just make sure you reduce the baking time when using a smaller pans.  If a little cake sticks to the pan and rips off (like in the above photo), no one will notice after you sprinkle it with confectioners' sugar.