Ginger Cake
Photo: Carolina Ayala / Contributor
Given that a dozen or so spices weave through my day’s cooking, one always reigns supreme. Ginger, which I use in extremely copious amounts at the restaurant and my home, is hands down my favorite spice. Even the laziest iteration of my morning chai, when I just use a tea bag, will have sliced ginger in the cup steeping along with the tea. So, when our pastry chef, Taylor, one morning made a ginger cake, I was immediately infatuated with it. I also loved that it was an oil-based cake, as opposed to a butter-based cake simply because the oil ones remain moister over time. While she used a cream cheese frosting, I decided this is a cake I want sitting on my kitchen counter so I can enjoy it with that morning or afternoon cup of chai. I topped the cake off with cranberries; in keeping with the season but you can top it off with anything from blueberries to nothing at all and I promise you that it will make a wonderful snack or dessert.
This ginger cake is my love letter to ginger and has already become part of my home-cooking repertoire. I hope it becomes a part of yours too! And remember, you do not need to peel ginger, the skin is perfectly edible. There is an old wives tale in in India that the maximum flavor resides just below the skin…