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Wicked good crystalized ginger cake recipe

15 years ago

This week I made the pear ginger cake recipe from Penzeys for my class--I gotta tell you it is awesome so I am posting it for all you ginger lovers. I made it with home canned pears in port, which I think was also part of its appeal. They were either my pears or Annie's, I can't remember. I thought they were hers--do you can pears in port Ms. Annie? And I threw in a few raisins too. I also dusted the top with additional sanding sugar before baking. But I really love this cake. I'll bet it would be good with apples too. I like buttermilk cakes. I used vanilla yogurt instead of buttermilk though--I always make that substitution since I couldn't keep buttermilk fresh and on hand.

I will definately be making this cake again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pear Ginger Coffeecake recipe from Penzeys

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Comments (5)

User
15 years ago
I'll bet this would be delicious with a cup of tea in the afternoon - Thanks for posting!
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CA Kate z9
15 years ago
I agree... this sounds too good to pass up. I'll take it along to LA for the holiday hordes.
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lpinkmountain
Original Author
15 years ago
You are so right AMCK! In fact, that's what I'm doing right now, enjoying a piece with my morning tea! It has stayed moist over time too, which is something I look for in a good cake recipe!
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sally2_gw
15 years ago
So, if part of the WOW! factor was that you used the pears canned in Port, but you don't happen to have pears canned in Port, would there be a way to incorporate Port into the recipe somehow? Maybe soak the pears in Port for a while before adding them to the recipe? Of course, the cake sounds wonderful anyway, so there may not be any reason to try duplicate the results you got.

Thanks for the recipe. I've already printed it out.

Sally
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lpinkmountain
Original Author
15 years ago
I was wondering that myself Sally, since that was my last can of the pears. That type of canned pear is so yummy I'm debating whether to make some more with store bought pears just to have on hand. I have also made pear upside down cake with canned pears, and pear parfaits with the pears in port and vanilla pudding. Both were super yummy. Just the pears warmed up with a dab of whipped cream is good too.

When I make this again I probably won't have the pears in port, so I might use canned pears and soak them in some type of sweet wine if I was really going over the top. But then again, I'll bet this cake is yummy with just plain old canned pears OR as the recipe calls for, regular ripe pears. What I thought was wonderful about it is that it is a special cake that you could whip up even if you didn't have fresh fruit on hand. I mean it was 8 o'clock at night before I had to go into work the next day, and when I could not find my traveling round cake pan and I realized that the pear upside down cake was out of the question, I was able to whip this thing up instead, which was good. I really love those secret recipes where you can pull off something special with seemingly nothing. The crystalized ginger is another thing to keep on hand which you can pull off as your secret weapon, and it would work with other cakes too. Another thing you could add would be raisins soaked in some kind of sweet wine with a clove or two thrown in for good measure.

When I make this again if I don't have fancy fruits, I'm going to add maybe 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to the mix, since the canned pears were spiced.

So my new secret weapons for jazzing up plain old cakes are crystalized ginger, sweet wine, and the sanding sugar. That is actually "sugar in the raw" which I have had sitting around for ages.

I have some apricots that have been soaking in brandy for a year in the fridge now. They will make something special sooner or later I think. No trouble to have on hand for special effects.
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