November 19, 2023

Spice Cake ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

Wonderfully fragrant and richly flavored with warming spices this 
Spice Cake is definitely sugar, and spice and all things nice!




The Cake Slice Bakers continue to bake through - Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano this year. Aleksandra, a James Beard Award–winning writer, shares her secrets of the cakes Parisians like to bake at home. Recipes such as a simple yogurt cake, a surprisingly easy Bûche De Noël, and Walnut Pear and Roquefort Madeleines will show you the surprising simplicity of a French cake.




The Cake Slice Bakers are a group of dedicated bakers who all love cake. Each year we choose a new cake-centric cookbook and bake our way through it. Every month we are given 3 choices and on the 20th day of each month we reveal what we have chosen on our blogs. This month's choices were Spice Cake, Coconut Yule Log with Yuzu Buttercream, and Almond Rum Cake. The Spice Cake was the one that appealed to me the most.




This cake was quick and easy to pull together, as well as simple to bake.  I love making spice mixes so I did make adjustments to the one provided in the recipe to suit my taste a little better, so don't be hesitant to adjust it to your favorite spices.  One the cake had cooled down I served it with a little crème fraîche, which was a delicious accompaniment.  One thought I had with this cake was that it would be really good with some heat added to it - maybe some cayenne pepper or it would also be good as a chocolate spice cake. My only other change was to sprinkle the batter with a little raw sugar to give it some crunch.


Spice Cake

Ingredients
Cake ~
  • 125 ml (⅓ cup) whole milk
  • 155 ml (½ cup) honey
  • 75g (5 tablespoons) butter
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 60g (½ cup) light brown sugar
  • the zest of one orange
  • 160g (1⅓ cups) cake flour
  • 5g (1½ tablespoons) Mes Épices (recipe below)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
Mes Épices ~
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground mace
  • 3 cloves
  • half a small nutmeg, grated
  • 3 green cardamom pods
Preparation
Cake ~
  1. Preheat the oven to 160℃ (315℉).
  2. Generously spray a 22 x 12 cm (8½ x 4½ inch loaf pan) with baking spray.
  3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and honey over a low heat, stirring until warm to the touch; set aside.
  4. In a small saucepan or microwave, melt the butter; set aside.
  5. In a stand mixer or using handheld electric beaters, beat the egg yolk with the brown sugar until smooth.
  6. Add the orange zest, and beat to combine.
  7. With the mixer running, pour in the warm milk and honey and beat until well combined.
  8. Place a sieve over the bowl and sift in the flour, spice mix, and baking soda and fold in these dry ingredients with a rubber spatula.
  9. Add the melted butter and fold that in.
  10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  11. Move the loaf pan to a wire cooling rack and allow it to come to room temperature.
Mes Épices ~
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a  spice grinder, or a clean coffee grinder, or a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix), and grind to a fine powder.
  2. Note - this recipe makes enough for 2 loaves.




    Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

    Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

    The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.




    It is a new year and a new book - Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes - and our choices for November 2023 were ~

    Spice Cake

    Coconut Yule Log with Yuzu Buttercream

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