When it comes to gingerbread cookies I’ve never been that enthusiastic. I don’t think I’ve ever made them at home and successfully made them taste gingery or spicy enough (anyone got tips!?) but gingerbread cake is a whooole different ball game. I love when it has a syrupy, dense texture with a richness almost comparable to a brownie. Last year I created my all time favourite recipe for gingerbread cake in loaf form (it has pumpkin in it which I think is why it’s so ridiculously moist) which I knew I had to put in my book because it’s just so damn moreish.

Last week I was ‘commissioned’* by my boyfriend to bake something to bring to the hospital where he’s studying for a staff/patient Christmas party. I knew there would be a lot of people so a loaf cake would not be enough – I’d have to make some sort of towering, quadruple layer cake. Being in a festive mood I had gingerbread on the brain, but my recipe is more of a snacking cake. It’s better for an informal tea-time treat and is way too delicate to withstand all the weight if layered up. Then as I was flicking through April Carter’s new cake book, Decorated, I spotted this beauty. A huge, dark gingerbread layer cake sandwiched together with salted caramel buttercream and drizzled in a sticky layer of caramel sauce. It was meant to be!

*I say commissioned, I actually mean that he asked me to help him bake buuut I got carried away and just made it all….oops?

April’s book is not only beautiful (I could stare at fancy layer cakes all day) but also incredibly helpful. It’s chock full of cake baking tips with step-by-step photos for leveling, decorating and making cakes. I’m obsessed with it and I want you to be too so I’m giving away a copy of the book! Just follow the instructions in the rafflecopter box below to enter (you may have to click through to my website if you are reading this via a subscription).

(Cover photo by Danielle Wood)

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Notes:

– Slightly adapted from Decorated, by April Carter (Hardie Grant, £20)

– I didn’t add the whiskey to the caramel as the cake was going to be feeding a huge range of people, some of whom may not be able to or want to consume alcohol.

– Making a buttercream dam is easier to show than explain if you’ve never heard of it before – thank goodness for Martha Stewart! Check this link to see a photo of what I mean

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