By MELISSA CLARK (Photo Evan Sung for The New York Times)
There is gingerbread, a homey and rustic snack with tea. And then there is ginger cake, which is fancier and company-worthy and meant for dessert.
This rich, fragrant confection from The Marrow in the West Village is decidedly on the cake side of this gingery spectrum.
It’s impressive on many levels, the first of which is because it’s baked in a Bundt pan coated with Demerara (raw) sugar. This gives the cake a crystalline crunch that melts into its tender, moist crumb. Then there’s the complexity of flavor. The combination of grated fresh ginger root and powdered ginger, along with a dash of black pepper and cloves, imbues this cake with a particularly intense spiciness. And a good measure of stout and molasses contributes a pleasantly bitter edge.
Make sure to use an excellent stout here. Since you’ll only use part of a bottle, choose one you’d be happy to finish off while the cake is in the oven.
As with most oil-based baked goods, this keeps well without drying out, and can be made a day or two ahead. Store it wrapped in foil at room temperature. Then serve it with tangy whipped crème fraîche to offset the sugar coating on the cake. Gingerbread never had it so good.
This is a rich, fragrant ginger cake with a crunchy raw-sugar coating and moist crumb. The combination of grated fresh ginger root and powdered ginger, along with black pepper and cloves, gives it a particularly intense spice flavor. Make sure to use a good stout here. Since you’ll only use part of a bottle, choose one you’d be happy to finish off while the cake is in the oven. As with most gingerbread, this is a good keeping cake, and can be made a day or two ahead. Store it wrapped in foil at room temperature. Then serve it with cream whipped with a little crème fraiche or sour cream for tartness, which will offset all that crunchy sugar coating the cake.