My favorite cakes are Next Day Cakes. To be clear, these are not cakes that you have to wait to eat (I do not have that level of patience). These are cakes that taste good on the day that you make them, but then the next day the flavors settle and meld together and you have a cake that is life-changing.
I was recently introduced to David Lebovitz's "Fresh Ginger Cake" (I apologize to my friends who have listened to me obsess about it). After some tweaking, I believe this recipe has reached Next Day Cake perfection. It is ginger forward, but the fresh ginger keeps it from tasting "dusty"or christmasy. The sweetness of the frosting balances the ginger creating perfect harmony and leaving you wanting another slice (or two). Go make this cake today and tomorrow you will feel so loved.
Note on Measuring Ginger: the easiest way to get the right amount of ginger is to buy a bit more than you need, peel the ginger and then weigh it. Or you can mince it by hand or in the food processor and then measure it with a cup measure. In a pinch, guessing the weight based on pre-peeled weight is also acceptable.
Note on Cake Collapse UPDATED: after further testing I have found that if I test this cake for doneness with a knife I get a minuscule amount of collapse. If I test with a toothpick or test by pressing gently on the cake to see if it springs back, I avoid any collapse. If you do get a little dip when you test, the collapse should be so slight that it is easily evened out with frosting.
Ginger Next Day Cake
Adapted from David Lebovitz's Fresh Ginger Cake in "Room for Dessert." Serves 8-10. cake: prep 20 minutes. bake 60 minutes. frosting:15 minutes
Ingredients
4 ounces (3/4 cup) peeled minced ginger (in a food processor is easiest)
1 cup sugar
1 cup avocado oil
1 cup unsulphered molasses
1 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (no need to weigh your flour for this)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs straight from the fridge
OPTIONAL: Finish cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
STEP ONE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of 9" springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. If you don't have one, you'll need to substitute a deep dish pan that's 3" tall at minimum or use a wider pan and adjust cooking time.
STEP TWO
Remove eggs from fridge so they start to warm a tiny bit. (I've used them straight from the fridge with no noticeable difference). Peel your ginger and then mince it using the food processor. If you don't have a scale, you can process your ginger then add it to a measuring cup until you get 3/4 cup. Add your sugar to the ginger mix and puree together. Set ginger-sugar aside.
STEP THREE
Measure out 1 cup of avocado oil into a medium/large mixing bowl. Then use that same (now greased) measuring cup to measure 1 cup of molasses and add that to the bowl too. Set aside for a moment while you boil 1 cup of water. Once water reaches a boil, remove from heat, add the baking soda to the water and then pour the bubbling mixture over the molasses and oil. Mix together.
STEP FOUR
Add ginger-sugar mixture to wet ingredients. Whisk to combine. Then add eggs and whisk again, then spices and flour on top of the wet ingredients and make sure to whisk until all the flour is incorporated.
STEP FIVE
Bake for 55-65 minutes until cake feels solid on top and toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool roughly 30 minutes before removing from the pan. (to prevent any large crumbs from detaching, make sure to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan). Allow cake to cool completely and then frost with cream cheese frosting.
Store cake in the fridge. I have no idea how long it keeps because it's alway gone by day 3. My guess is 5 days.
SO GOOD!