It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
You can tell that the Christmas season is upon us when all the high street coffee shops start selling their famous festive drinks! And we absolutely can’t get enough of them!
My all-time favourite HAS to be a Gingerbread Latte. I’ve always been a big fan of the warming spiced flavours of ginger and cinnamon and they pair perfectly with a cup of oh-so delicious coffee. I just had to recreate it in cake form!
Three layers of rich, spiced, treacly coffee sponges, sandwiched and covered in devilishly-good spiced buttercream and finished with a drip of caramel sauce and, of course, mini gingerbread men!
This recipe makes a three layer 6″ cake giving ~8-10 servings. It will take approximately 2 hours to make. The caramel can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.
Ingredients:
For the sponges:
- 3 tbsp (~185 g) black treacle
- 3 tbsp (~185 g) golden syrup
- 275 g caster sugar
- 275 g unsalted butter
- 5 eggs
- 200 ml whole milk
- 400 g gluten-free self raising flour
- 50 g ground almond
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend already contains it)
- 1 tsp baking powder (make sure this is gluten-free)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water, cooled or 2 tbsp coffee extract
For the buttercream:
- 300 g unsalted butter, softened
- 75 g trex
- 700 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1-2 tbsp boiled water
- 3 tbsp sweet cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ginger
For the caramel sauce:
- 55 g unsalted butter
- 110 g soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 40 ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or gingerbread syrup (I use Monin syrup)
GF Gingerbread men to decorate!
Useful Equipment: three 6″ cake tins, greaseproof paper, mixing bowls, small saucepans, whisk, spatula, weighing scales, hand/stand mixer, measuring spoons, small measuring jug, wire rack, piping nozzle, piping tips, palette knife, cake scraper, cake turntable
Method:
To make the sponges:
- Preheat the oven to 160 °C fan/320 °F and grease three 6″ cake tins lining the base with greaseproof paper.
- In a saucepan over a medium heat, melt together the treacle, golden syrup, butter and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl (either with a hand mixer or using a stand mixer), whisk together the eggs, milk and coffee.
- Add the cooled treacle mixture and whisk to combine.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb, xanthan gum and spices and add the ground almonds. Fold to combine.
- Divide the mixture equally between the tins and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream:
- In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the softened butter and trex together until pale and smooth.
- Gradually add the icing sugar until a smooth consistency is reached. Add the vanilla and the spices and continue to mix. You can add some boiled water to thin if needed. It needs to be a soft and pipeable consistency.
- Place into a piping bag ready for use.
To make the caramel sauce:
- In a small saucepan over a medium heat, melt together the butter, sugar, salt and golden syrup and stir until a smooth mixture is formed.
- Bring to a rolling boil and carefully add the cream (it may spatter!). Whisk until smooth.
- Remove from the heat to cool down. It will thicken as it cools.
Assembling the cake:
- Place the first cake layer on your serving plate (and onto a turntable if you have one! It makes decoration a lot easier!). Spread ~2 tbsp of caramel sauce on top of the cake and cover with a layer of buttercream.
- Repeat this step for your second layer and finish with your third.
- Now that your cake is assembled, spread a thin layer of buttercream around your cake using a palette knife to create a crumb coat and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
- Once set, complete your cake with another coat of buttercream – using the palette knife and/or cake scraper to create a smooth finish.
- Drip the caramel sauce across the top of the cake, allowing it to run down the sides. You can heat it in the microwave for 10-15 second blasts if it’s too cool to run.
- Finally, get creative and add any decorations you wish! I went for piped buttercream and lots of happy little gingerbread men! Serve and enjoy!
This cake will keep up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
I love to hear what you think about my recipes and about your own bakes too! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! And don’t forget, you can subscribe to Pippatisserie to stay up to date on all new recipes and posts!
