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Nov 20, 2020

Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes

These double ginger and grapefruit cakes start with super gingery cakes with a touch of grapefruit zest which are then topped with a sweet/tart grapefruit curd buttercream. 

Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes





The double ginger cakelets are super moist, plus, they stay fresh and moist for several days in an airtight container. 

The cake recipe includes two forms of ginger, both ground ginger and pureed stem (preserved) ginger. Stem ginger seems to be a staple in British cooking and baking, but not as commonly used in American baking. If you can't find stem ginger, you can substitute finely chopped crystalized ginger, which is much easier to find. 

I got ambitious and made my own stem ginger like I did for a sticky ginger cake I made last January. 

Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes with buttercream





Between the grapefruit curd for the buttercream frosting and the cake, you will need four ruby red grapefruits. You will need the zest of all four and a cup of the juice. The zest of one of the grapefruits goes into the ginger cakes, and you use the rest for making the curd. 

Be sure to refrigerate the extra zested grapefruits to enjoy later for breakfast. 


Grapefruit halves





Probably the most labor intensive part of making these cakes is making the grapefruit curd. You make about a cup and a half of curd for adding to the buttercream and garnishing the cakes. It's both sweet and sour, and delicious. You can use the rest of the curd to garnish the cakes when serving, or as a breakfast spread. 

Make the curd up to 5 days in advance. I intend to try the rest of the curd to make a frozen custard dessert. Doesn't that sound delicious? 

Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes on plates





Did you notice the oval shape of these cakes? 

I had sworn off buying any more pans or kitchen gadgets, but this recipe called for a friand pan. A friand pan? It's a pan with 2 inch by 3 inch cavities to make French tea cakes or almond cakes. 

I fell for the pan and bought it, but you could easily substitute a muffin tin or a jumbo muffin tin and adjust the baking time. 

Ginger cakes



Steps for making these double ginger and grapefruit cakes:


First, make the grapefruit curd. You can do this up to 4 or 5 days in advance. 

Once you are ready to make the cakes, heat the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup or corn syrup in a sausepan until the sugar dissolves. When the mixture cools, add the stem ginger puree and grapefruit zest. Whisk in the eggs and milk.

Finally, add in the dry ingredients and fill the cavities of the friand pan and bake. 

The buttercream includes butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, milk, and a generous amount of the grapefruit curd, which you whip together. 


Cakes with ginger and buttercream




Plus, you can get creative about how you frost these cakes. 

I definitely had way more frosting than I needed. You could possibly make a higher layer of frosting if you like or slice them in half to make two layers. 

More Recipes with Grapefruit:

Grapefruit Panna Cotta

Sea Scallops with a Jalapeño and Grapefruit Marinade

The Spring Fling Cocktail

Citrus Poppyseed Cake

The Sugar Plum Cocktail






Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The New Way To Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our FacebookInstagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.





Our choices for November 2020 were ~ 


Hazelnut, Pear & Espresso Cake

Hot Chocolate and Halva Pudding

Double Ginger and Grapefruit Cakes



Mini Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes






Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes

Print
Double Ginger & Grapefruit Cakes
Yield: 12
Author: Karen Kerr
These double ginger and grapefruit cakes start with super gingery cakes with a touch of grapefruit zest which are then topped with a sweet/tart grapefruit curd buttercream.

Ingredients

For the Curd
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, strained
  • 100 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • Zest of three red or pink grapefruits
  • 2 large eggs plus 4 egg yolks
  • 75 grams (1/3 cup) butter, softened
For the Cakes
  • 160 grams (3/4 cup) unsalted butter200 grams (1 cup) light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup or golden syrup
  • 80 grams (3/4 cup) stem ginger, pureed
  • Zest of one red grapefruit
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup room temperature milk
  • 150 grams (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
For the Buttercream
  • 150 grams (2/3 cup) butter, softened
  • 300 grams (2 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

To Make the Curd
  1. Simmer the grapefruit juice until it has reduced to 1/2 cup. Let cool.
  2. In a bowl, rub the grapefruit zest into the sugar with your fingers. 
  3. Whisk in the eggs and yolks until combined. Add the butter and grapefruit juice and pour the mixture back into the saucepan over low heat and whisk constantly for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. 
  4. Pour the curd through a strainer into a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap that touches the curd. Let cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate. 
To Make the Cakes
  1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray the cavities of a friand pan or muffin tin with nonstick spray. 
  2. Melt the butter, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium low heat until the sugar dissolves. Do not bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  3. Stir in the pureed ginger and zest. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in the eggs. 
  4. Sift the flour, baking soda, and ground ginger into the bowl and stir until fully combined. Divide the batter among the cavities of the friand pan (3/4 full). 
  5. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 
  6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
For the Buttercream
  1. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and milk and beat for 2 minutes.
  2. Beat in 3 heaping tablespoons of the curd. 
  3. Pipe onto the cakes and garnish with some grapefruit zest and more curd (optional). 
cake, ginger
Dessert
British
Did you make this recipe?
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Created using The Recipes Generator

Would you like to comment?

  1. Brave soul. That's a lot of zesting. They look great!

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    Replies
    1. It's definitely not my favorite kitchen chore, right behind chopping chocolate, lol.

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  2. These are just adorable and sound amazingly delicious!

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  3. I am super tempted to buy the pan too! Your cakes turned out so cute! And they sound delicious.

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  4. And now I want a friand pan! This is unique shape for a baking pan and I can't imagine zesting 4 grapefruits. You did an excellent job and the recipe sounds like a winner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! Yes, it was definitely a lot of zesting!

      Delete
  5. That looks and sounds amazing. I love both grapefruit and ginger and had never thought of them together. And I love citrus curd, but have never made a grapefruit one. We made a grapefruit upside down cake in a class last year and it was fantastic, definitely want to try these.

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  6. I was anxious to see your first adventure with the friands pan!!!!! LOVE IT! these are so cool, I want to bake a batch soon.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This recipe is perfect for the baking that you donate because it stays fresh for days!

      Delete
  7. I can't wait to try these cakes, and I love the idea of slicing them and layering with some of the buttercream. It would make great small cakes for a tea party.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, that's what I'll do next. I hated tossing so much buttercream.

      Delete

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