Here in Ottawa, it's a miserable rainy day, and the sun , although forecasted to come out in the afternoon has not arrived. It is warmer outside than in the house, and for some reason a nice cup of tea and ginger butter cake sounded like a good idea. In truth, I am a coffee drinker, but every now and then I enjoy a good cup of tea, and with the ginger butter cake it would compliment it nicely. I am not a tea connoisseur but I have to admit I just love the teas made by "Stash". My favorite is the Double Earl Grey, but for today I made a ,"Goji Berry Green tea with Matcha."yummy!
Stash uses only all natural botanical ingredients.
They are a fairly new company , since 1972 out of Portland, Oregon. Do go online and check out their website. stashteas.com
No, I don't work for Stash teas, just thought I would share this little tidbit, with the folks out there like me who are not real tea drinkers and are looking for a tea experience. I discovered Stash teas, when having lunch at my favorite little reataraunt in Merrickville called Serendipity. Tara ,the owner served me my Double Earl Grey, which was made by Stash and I fell in love with their blend.
Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Baking, Ginger Butter Cake
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced
- 1/3 cup Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
- 2 cups cake/pastry flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp grounded ginger
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 1/4 cup icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
- 4 lrg eggs at room temp
- grated zest of 1 orange
- 3-inch piece fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk at room temp
In a small bowl, soak the crystallized ginger in the Grand Marnier for 10 mins. Position a rack to the middle of the oven and set oven to 350F (180c). Butter the bottom and sides of a 9"x5" loaf pan. Dust the bottom and sides of the pan with flour. Shift together the cake flour, baking powder, and ground ginger onto a sheet of parchment paper or on a plate and set aside. By mixer: In a large bowl combine the butter, icing sugar, and corn syrup. Using the paddle attachment beat on medium high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the orange zest, grated ginger and almond extract. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients until almost fully incorporated. Fold in 1/2 of the milk, then fold in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and the liqueur-soaked crystallized ginger and, using a light lifting motion and turning the bowl continuously fold in until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not fold to vigorously or the cake will be tough. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake until tooth pick inserted comes out clean, 50-60 mins. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 mins and lift and remove from pan. When totally cooled liberally dust the top with icing sugar and transfer to a serving plate.