GingerbredCake the Revelca

Flavours aside, what is great about this cake is that you can split the work into stages and make some items as far as two weeks ahead of time. My mum tells me that she bakes the gingerbread bases two weeks before Christmas and does not prepare the cream until 6-5 days ahead and only assembles the whole thing 4 days before Christmas. It is a perfect cake for when you want to make something impressive, crowd-pleasing (who does not like gingerbread?) yet something that does not require any work on the day.

GINGERBREAD SHEETS

🎂 150 g / 5.4 oz (about 2/3 cup) vegan butter block
🎂 18 g / 3 tbsp ground flax (if using GF flour)
🎂 160 ml / 2/3 cup lukewarm plant milk
🎂 250 g / packed 1¼ cup dark muscovado sugar*
🎂 1½ tsp baking soda
🎂 4 tsp ground ginger
🎂 3 tsp ground cinnamon
🎂 1½ tsp ground cardamom
🎂 1 tsp ground nutmeg
🎂 ¼ tsp ground cloves
🎂 ¼ tsp fine salt
🎂 500 g / 4 cups all purpose flour or GF flour mix
🎂 150 ml / ½ cup + 2 tbsp Amaretto, cold chai tea or lemon water*, for infusing

CRANBERRY LAYER

🎄 300 g / 10.5 oz fresh cranberries* (or sour jam*)

CUSTARD BUTTERCREAM

🍰 500 ml / 2 cups vegan single cream (I used Oatly) or full fat coconut milk
🍰 200 g / 1 cup caster sugar, adjust to taste
🍰 15 ml / 1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract
🍰 60 g / ½ cup AP flour or GF flour mix
🍰 30 g / 2½ tbsp potato starch*
🍰 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan butter block
🍰 ¼ tsp salt, less if your butter is salty


🎂 1. Place vegan butter in a large mixing bowl and leave on the counter to soften.

🎂 2. If making these with gluten-free flour, combine ground flax with plant milk and set aside to thicken. Otherwise skip to the next step.

🎂 3. Once the butter has softened, add dark muscovado sugar and whisk with electric beaters until homogenous and fluffy. If your sugar has clumps, squash them between your fingers first.

🎂 4. Next add plant milk (or activated flax if using GF flour). Whisk until well combined and creamy.

🎂 5. Place a sieve over the bowl and sift in all of the dry ingredients including approximately a half of flour. Mix well to combine, then sift in another half of flour. Use your hands to gently bring the dough together but do not knead.

🎂 6. The dough should be soft and a little sticky. Form it into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 3 hours, until the dough has hardened.

🎂 7. Before you are about to take the dough out of the fridge, set the oven to 180° C / 355° F and line two baking trays with a piece of baking paper.

🎂 8. Take the dough out of the fridge, weigh it and divide into 5 equal pieces.

🎂 9. Roll each piece into a long oblong then cut out a rectangle measuring 20 cm / 8 inches by 10 cm / 4 inches and 5 mm / 0.2 inch thick. Keep off cuts for gingerbread cookies.

🎂 10. Arrange gingerbread sheets on the prepared baking trays and bake for about 18 minutes. Cool down completely. You can store these away in an air-tight box 1-2 weeks before assembling.

CRANBERRY LAYER

🎄 11. Place cranberries and two tablespoons of water in a medium size pot on low heat.

🎄 12. Simmer until completely softened stirring the whole time so that the mixture doesn’t catch.

🎄 13. Cool a little then blend until smooth. I needed to add 60 ml / 4 tbsp of water to be able to blend it in my mini blender – add as little water as possible or else it will run off the cake.

🎄 14. Refrigerate until needed, you will have leftovers but smaller amount doesn’t blend so well. This keeps for about a week.

CUSTARD BUTTERCREAM

🍰 15. Place cream and vanilla in a large pot, warm it up on a low heat.

🍰 16. Place sugar, flour and potato flour in a medium bowl and whisk together well.

🍰 17. Once the cream is simmering gently, start adding flour and sugar mixture in a slow yet steady stream while whisking the entire time. This should minimize any lumps but if there are any, press the mixture through a fine sieve once thickened.

🍰 18. Carry on heating the mixture (whisking the whole time) until it starts bubbling gently – stop whisking for a few seconds to see if it does. From that point onward allow the mixture to bubble for 5 minutes on a low heat to thicken and to cook off raw flour taste.

🍰 19. Take off the heat, allow to cool, then refrigerate until cold (overnight if you have time).

🍰 20. Cut butter into slices and place it in a food processor. Leave at room temperature until the butter is completely soft, then process until smooth and lump free.

🍰 21. Slowly add cold custard, tablespoon by tablespoon, allowing each addition to get incorporated into the butter. By the end of this process you should end up with a fluffy white buttercream. Refrigerate for a couple of hours at least before icing the cake.

ASSEMBLY (2-3 days before consumption!)

🎂 22. Place first gingerbread layer on a dish/surface that will fit into your fridge comfortably.

🎂 23. Brush it with 2 tbsp of your soaking liquid of choice, allowing it to soak in before spreading the buttercream gently on top.

🎂 24. Follow exactly the same step with the next layer, then switch up buttercream for cranberry jelly/jam.

🎂 25. Follow the same steps until you’ve used up all gingerbread sheets. Use leftover cream to cover the top – don’t forget to soak the last gingerbread sheet too before adding cream.

🎂 26. Keep leftover buttercream to cover the sides once the cake has set amd place assembled cake in the fridge at least 48 hours (72 hours is better) before serving days so that gingerbread has a chance to soften.

🎂 27. Decorate however you wish – I used gingerbreads made from leftover dough, chopped pistachios, fresh cranberries, bits of Christmas tree and orange zest.

🎂 28. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.


🎄 MOLASSES: If you wanted to add molasses to the gingerbread dough, you can. Use unsulphured molasses or black treacle rather than blackstap molasses, which are bitter. Use 80 g / ¼ cup of molasses and decrease the amount of sugar by 50 g sugar / ¼ cup.

🎄 SOAKING LIQUID: my mum uses lemon water (approx. 30% lemon juice, the rest water), I have tried using Amaretto and I have no regrets (you may want to water it down for less punchy flavour), cold spiced chai tea or cranberry juice will also be delicious.

🎄 CRANBERRIES: I both fresh and frozen cranberries work well. I did not add any sugar as I wanted a sour conterpoint to the sweet gingerbread and buttercream. Alternatively, use a sour jam – my mum uses her homemade sour cherry jam.

🎄 POTATO STARCH: can be replaced with the same amount of cornflour / cornstarch by weight.