bake time! (again). can't stay away from the kitchen. this time, i joined kat's kitchen to watch her whip up an untested recipe: chai cake. we flipped it (made it gluten free) and made it sane on the sugar levels. it was so so heavenly. i mean, i melted when i took the first bite. now, granted, i have been on a cleanse diet for the last two weeks (since Christmas), so i may have been slightly giddy over the prospect of CAKE in the first place. but i promise you, if you make this, it
will make you happy.
it called for (almost) equal parts flour and sugar. whaat?? how do people eat these things? so, we knocked it down by half, and used half xylitol and half honey. worked like a charm.
Chai Cake w. Honey Ginger Cream
1 and 1/3 cups of milk
6 chai tea bags, without added sweetner, such as Tazo
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 and 3/4 cups of Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Flour Mix
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup xylitol
4 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of salt
8 ounces of unsalted butter at room temp.
Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of the pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over low med-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.
In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, honey, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.
Combine the flour, xylitol, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on med-low speed.
Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes.Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.
To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with half of icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. Top with candied ginger pieces.
Honey-Ginger Cream
1/3 cup honey
10 ounces of cream cheese at room temp
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temp.
1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger {or substitute w. 1 1/2 tbsp finely minced crystalized ginger}
Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to blend together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until smooth.
for the first time in our 8-years of marriage, we own a slow cooker. this was our inaugural meal. truly satisfactory.
