Melissa-Smith I’m gonna be honest – Momming is hard.
It’s especially hard when you have other things to do besides changing diapers and raising your child. Which I know everyone does.
Especially when you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing. Which I know everyone does.
Especially when she’s cranky. And tired and teething. And crawling and eating.
Check out my last post about being a Mama here.
Milestones = Sleep Regression
My daughter has just started both crawling and eating solid food. If you know anything about the world of babies this means that she’s hitting milestones. (On time I might add!) Yay! But that also means that her ability to sleep and stay asleep has tanked. So any semblance of sleep (for all of us) has gone out the window. Her naps are off, her nighttime sleep is off…basically no one sleeps around here anymore.
Baby-Led Weaning, Completely Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition: The Essential Guide―How to Introduce Solid Foods and Help Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater
On top of which, I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be when she started on solid food! Think about it, she now needs three meals a day. Three wholesome, varied meals a day. So there’s the added prep and clean up from that, while trying to keep Richie and myself fed. And that mostly means salads thrown together from leftovers and cereal on the fly.
Baby Led Weaning
And the clean up! We’re introducing solid food to her through the Baby Led Weaning method, which means that she eats what we eat. She chomps on strips of steak, picks up pasta with her chubby little fingers and grabs the yogurt spoon by the wrong end. This little lady gets food every.where. Everyday, three meals a day we have a full wardrobe change and wipe down of her hands, face, hair (and depending how much ended up in her lap) her legs.
And.the.laundry. Between her clothes, the bibs, the washcloths and the clean up rags (on top of the regular laundry we accumulate) I feel like the pile at the bottom of the stairs is never empty, always growing and persistently taunting me. Seriously, for such a tiny human she can make a ridiculously large mess.
On a completely unrelated note, I’ve been in need of, and searching for, a good stress reliever and a way to unwind. Enter Sticky Gingerbread Cake.
Sticky Gingerbread Cake
True to it’s name, this cake is sticky, moist, full of intense spice and deliciously sweet. The batter calls for three forms of ginger: grated fresh ginger, chopped candied ginger and ground ginger. Pieces of candied ginger dot the inside crumb, while the essence of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and white pepper make this slightly spicy cake full of zest. The cake is baked in round cake pans, sliced horizontally to form four layers, and then layered with Cream Cheese Buttercream.
The buttercream is delicately flavored with orange zest, which plays with the molasses in the cake for a fully balanced bite. Top it off with a few pomegranate seeds and orange twists and you’ve got a very pretty dessert on your hands. (I decided to decorate with very prickly Evergreen clippings and just be aware that they are not edible. Take them off before serving and handle with care!)
I’m so glad to have this Sticky Gingerbread Cake around the house these days, even if it’s not so good for my waist line. I’ll be sure to schedule my next Peloton class when I sit down to eat a slice with a nice cold glass of milk, right after the baby finally hits the hay for the night. And maybe I’ll save that laundry pile for the morning:)
Cheers!
Print
Sticky Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1.5 – 2 hours
- Yield: 2–7 inch cakes 1x
Description
This Sticky Gingerbread Cake is slightly spicy with three forms of ginger, cinnamon nutmeg and white pepper and then layered with an orange scented Cream Cheese Buttercream.
Ingredients
Sticky Gingerbread Cake:
- 8 ounces brewed coffee
- 6 ounces dark brown sugar
- 11 ounces molasses
- 6 ounces vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- Pinch ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 ounces crystallized ginger
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces confectioner’s sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- Prepare two 7 or 8 inch round cake pans with oil spray and a round of parchment in the bottom of each.
- Combine the first five ingredients – coffee, dark brown sugar, molasses, oil and eggs in a large bowl and whisk until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients – fresh ginger, flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and crystallized ginger.
- Combine by adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter out into the pans, dividing them evenly between the two and smoothing the tops.
- Bake at 350 F until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. About 35-40 minutes. Cool overnight, refrigerated.
- For the buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the bits are incorporated to help avoid lumps.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and orange zest and beat until light, smooth and creamy.
- To Layer: When the cake is cool, use a serrated knife to cut the rounded tops off each of the cakes to level. Then, cut each cake in half horizontally being sure to cut level for even layers. Layer the four layers of cake with three layers of Cream Cheese Buttercream. Chill until set, then use the rest of the frosting to cover the outside of the cake. Garnish with pomegranates and orange zest twists.
Notes
Be sure to always scrape down the bowl when beating the butter and cream cheese together to avoid lumps.
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: gingerbread, cake, holiday baking, Christmas baking, Christmas cake, cream cheese,
