Gingerbread Layer Cake With Salted Whiskey Caramel

• Produce

  • 1 Crystallised ginger
  • 4 tsp Ginger, ground

• Refrigerated

  • 2 Eggs, medium

• Condiments

  • 3 1/2 oz Golden syrup - use corn/agave syrup if you can't get this
  • 3 1/2 oz Unsulfered molasses
  • 1/2 cup Whiskey caramel sauce, salted

• Baking & Spices

  • 3 cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 cup Brown sugar, dark
  • 3 tsp Cinnamon, ground
  • 1 Pinch Cloves, ground
  • 1 Pinch Nutmeg
  • 2 1/3 cups Powered sugar
  • 1 Pinch Salt
  • 1 tsp Sea salt, flaky

• Dairy

  • 2 3/16 cup Butter, unsalted
  • 1 1/4 cups Whole milk

• Beer, Wine & Liquor

  • 3 tsp Whiskey

• Other

  • 1 cup And 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups Double (heavy cream

Found on popsugar.com

Description

Directions

• Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 335°F. Prepare 7-inch round, deep cake tins by greasing and lining the base with parchment paper. Heat the butter, molasses, and golden syrup in a large saucepan over a low heat until the butter has melted. Beat in the brown sugar and set aside to cool slightly. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and milk together. Slowly beat into the butter and sugar mixture. Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt into the saucepan, and beat until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Make the caramel sauce: Heat the superfine sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once the sugar starts to melt, swirl the sugar into the liquid areas of the pan without stirring. While the sugar is melting, gently warm the cream and butter in a separate pan until the butter has melted. After about 10 minutes, or once the sugar has completely melted and is a dark amber color, remove the saucepan from the heat. Immediately whisk in the warm cream and butter mixture (be careful, as the hot caramel can splash up). If the sugar solidifies, return the pan to medium heat until the mixture is liquid again. Stir in the salt and whiskey. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl to remove any remaining lumps of sugar and leave to cool. Make the buttercream: Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter in a bowl for 3-4 minutes until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and whiskey caramel sauce, then continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes until smooth. Assemble the cake: Level the cakes by cutting off the domed tops (I like using a serrated knife for this) and split each layer in half so that you have 4 layers in total. Spread the first layer with about 1/6 of the buttercream. Make a thicker layer of buttercream like a dam (see notes) around the edges and spoon in about 2 tablespoons of the slightly cooled caramel sauce (if it is too thick to pour, warm it gently for a few seconds on the stove). Place the second layer on top and repeat the buttercream and caramel filling and repeat again with the third layer. Top with the last layer and cover the entire cake with a thin layer of the buttercream (this is called crumb coating). Chill for 30 minutes then pour over the caramel (again, warm it if it is too thick to pour, or chill if it is too runny) and decorate with chopped crystallized ginger.