Kahlua Spiced Gingerbread Cake

I was not always a baker. In fact I didn’t even like baking when I was younger. It seemed to be an activity that older people did! Ha! Now that I am the older people I guess there might have been truth in that! At least for me. I started baking because I was bored. Yup sheer boredom led me to find one of the many passions I have in life. And boy am I glad I did. It is a truly joyful process to see something come alive from a few simple ingredients.

This cake is inspired by Linda Lomelino. It was sheer beauty that she created and that I have tried to replicate with my own little twists. Nothing major but arisen from lack of certain ingredients or sheer accidents. Beauty usually occurs due to accidents in my opinion!

Someone asked me if my version contained Indian spices. The thing is gingerbread cakes have spices that are Indian! Cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger! Hello! These are all Indian spices!!!

I omitted the cardamom in mine because of a special little monkey in the house that doesn’t like it at all. To which I say… “Baby girl where’s the Indian in you?” 🙂

I did add Speculaas spices which are so Dutch, but then again are not really. I mean the spice mix is made up of the above mentioned spices and a few more perhaps. But the Dutch got these spices from their travels and colonisations. So not really Dutch! 🙂 So you must be getting what I am saying by now! The spices in here are all from my sub continent. Case closed!

Ok, I also have made this a bit of a boozy cake. After baking, the cake is soaked a bit in coffee and kahlua. Oh yeah! So come Christmas, this might just be the show stopper for your guests! ENJOY!

Gingerbread Castle House with Speculaas Spices

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Ingredients

For the cake
200 grams salted butter
360 grams all purpose flour
1½ tsps baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp.ground cinnamon
1 tbsp.ground ginger
2 tsp. freshly ground cloves
1 tsp. speculaas spice mix (can be omitted)
4 large eggs
360 grams granulated sugar
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup freshly brewed coffee
4-5 tbsps kahlua
For the Swiss buttercream
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 cups unsalted butter softened

Instructions

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and flour two 6 inch springform pans. Set aside.
Melt the butter and set aside.Mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat eggs and sugars until fluffy and lighter in color, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the dry ingredients and butter to the egg mixture in additions, and stir until completely smooth. Stir in the sour cream.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake on the middle rack for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then unmold onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cut each cake into 2 and poke hole with a skewer. Generously soak the cakes with the coffee-kahlua mix and set aside.
For the buttercream: Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined. Place bowl over a pot with 1-2" of simmering water and stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch.
Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
Slowly add cubed butter and mix until it comes together and is smooth.
Putting the cake together: Place the first cake layer on a cake stand Spread a layer of frosting on the first layer. Repeat this until you’ve used up all layers.
Spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake. Place the cake in the fridge for a few minutes if the frosting is soft.
Decorate with the gingerbread cookies. I placed toothpicks behind the cookies on top of the cake to get them to stand up. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.

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