I have been thinking to bake and decorate a cake for my parents for a long time now. But since both of them don’t prefer sweets and because of the diabetes, I avoided it for so long. Then I thought of making it with sweetener and later I came to know, sweetener should not be cooked/baked. I asked my colleague Cindy, who gave me the idea of sweetener for baking. Now the next question was, which cake to bake? I didn’t want to bake the same cakes again and again, so I decided on searching for a all new cake. I wanted something that both pappa and aayi would eat with interest. So after around 1hr of considering different options, I decided to make something which had a strong ginger flavor. Pappa simply loves ginger in everything, so I thought he would like it. So ginger cake it was.
I made a very small cake this time, I am really fed up of throwing cakes in trash (we are having cake overdose, thanks to my cake decorating classes). So it came out to be a beautiful tiny cake, which even though didn’t rise much, looked like a perfect one.
Then it was time for decorating it. Since I had chosen pappa’s favorite ingredient in the cake, I decided to do aayi’s favorite decoration. The first thing that came to my mind was basket weave. She simply loves those woven flower baskets. She loves roses, so that was next. I messed up a bit in both basket and the flowers and buds on top. Both pappa and aayi simply loved it, worth all my effort. Only problem was, I could not use sweetener for icing. There should be some other sweetener which is suitable for icing, I will search that next time. I had to use normal confectioner’s sugar for it.
The cake was just out of the world. A best choice for any ginger lover. It had a strong gingery flavor and the grated pieces were a bonus. I will be baking this cake more often now.
The recipe I followed was adapted from All recipes. I made quite a few modifications to it and I am happy that I did those modifications. I would have hated the cinnamon taste in this particular cake (I absolutely hated the cinnamon flavor in last few cakes and so decided never to use it again).
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar or baking sweetner
1 tbl spn fresh grated ginger
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tea spns baking powder
1 tea spn vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
Method:
Preheat the oven at 350 F for about 10mins.
Sieve together flour and baking powder, keep it aside.
Mix butter and sugar(or sweetener) till they are well mixed. Now add eggs, vanilla extract and mix well till the eggs are mixed. Pour in milk and mix again.
Now add the flour-baking powder mixture, a little at a time, mixing it all the time. When everything is incorporated well, add the grated ginger and mix.
Grease a baking dish, dust it with some flour. Pour the cake batter into it and bake at 350F for about 40mins or till a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
While serving, dust with some confectioner’s sugar or decorated it.
Makes : 6-7 big pieces
Preparation time : 10mins (excluding baking time)
Shilpa, the cake and the decorations look really good.
That looks lovely Shilpa. The recipe itself sounds simple!
Looks great. I need to bake a cake for hubby’s birthday this weekend!!
The cake looks so beautiful Shilpa! Your parents must be proud of our skills!
The cake looks so beautiful Shilpa! Your parents must be proud of your skills!
Lovely Cake shilpa. The texture is so soft. Viji
Great Cake Shilpa. Its been ages since I came to your blog and am now going back to see the posts I have missed .
Shilpa, your Ginger cake truly looks wonderful wt the neat basket weave plus the rose and buds, lovely colour, the piece too looks yummy!Feel like eating it away frm your pic! Wd surely try it, minus the icing!
Your love and efforts shows in that lovekly cake :)I am sure they are very proud of you and must have loved it!good work!
Neat decoration. Looks lovely.
The cake is so basketfull. I just loved the basket Weave on the side. Your parents are really lucky to have a sweet daughter who bakes sweetless cakes especially for them.
Hi Shilap,
Wonderful cake…more over i liked your way selecting your papa’s flavour and mom’s wish in decorating..Gr8 …
Shilpa,
the cake looks amazing and so does the decoration. No wonder your aai-baba loved it. thanks for the recipe…..
Hi Shilpa iam new in your blog, really nice decorating cake, i love it 😉
Lovely cake! Splenda is a great substitute for sugar too!:)
Your cake looks good!
Wow!Ginger in cake? That must have added a unique flavor.
That is one good looking cake!!
Hi!
Cake looks delicious! can we do it in microwave? if so how?please clarify.
Shilpa: Sorry Usha, I don’t know :(.
that cake looks so pretty. very well decorated. your parents must have surely liked it. thanks for telling me about the sweeteners.
shilpa
the cake looks detto like a bakery cake.the decoration is too good.i will definately try this.
i have never baked earlier.what kind of container should i use for baking?(i know this question may sound silly)but pl let me know
Shilpa: Gayatri, you need to use any oven proof baking dish. These are available in baking section of grocery stores.
Hi Shilpa,
Can we bake this cake without eggs? It looks good and I wanna do it 🙁
-Hema
Shilpa: I haven’t tried it without eggs Hema. I don’t suggest it. Since it had only two eggs, it had hardly risen even with 2 tea spns baking powder, if you don’t put eggs at all, it might become too sticky.
Beautiful cake Shilpa- and so nice to do that for your parents!
When I make cakes here at home- no spectacular decorating like yours- I end up giving away much of it to the neighbors; they enjoy it, and less calories here! 😀
Gr8 cake Shilpa…..Haven’t baked for a very long time. After trying your date cake and with the cake fever on here, my neighbour’s enjoy most of the cake (as Pelicano mentioned) Less calories here, but lot of time spend in baking.
I don’t know how this works because I’ve never tried it but Stevia is suppose to be really great as a sugar substitute…It’s really expensive comparatively though, but there are other health benefits to it too…the cake looks and sounds great!
Hi shilpa,i’m new to ur blog.I mean i’m watching it frm last month but this is the first time i’m writing for. I like the way u r explaining the receipe’s with pictures n also sharing ur experiences. I must say that i’ve tried ur above receipe yesterday and it comes out gr8. Thanks a lot.
geesh, somone should stop you from posting such pics!!
It looks soooooooooooo good that I want to enter the computer and eat it all up
🙁
It looks great! I am going to try this soon!
Cake looks yummy Shilpa..The ginger in the cake is making my mouth water.
hi shipa,
your cake looks yummy.I want to ask u about the icing.can u just post icing receipes which u used on the cake.
Shilpa: Kalyani, I used Wilton’s buttercream icing recipe for this cake.
hi shilpa
I am a regular visitor to ur website.Thanks for all ur recipes.I really enjoyed it.u r an insipiration for me to do the cake decorating.i completed course I.I got the kit for the second.But unfortunately due to some visa problems we have to go back to India in a short time.I started practicing the rosebuds from the home.But couldnt get it.kud u pls help me.From where should i start?which side.Pls tell in detail.PLS help me
Shilpa: Kamala, the best resource to learn all the techniques on your own is to refer Wilton’s site itself. Even I refer it frequently as I can’t remember everything. Please go thr’ it and see if it helps.
I love your receipes . I wanna start baking and your cakes are the first ones i am going to try. keep up the great work
Mmmmmmm Shilpa
Sounds spicy & yummy.
Will try it soonest.
Nice icing too. I dont think I could ever do that on my cakes.
Hi Shilpa,
I tried this cake yestrday..but instead of using ginger(as i do nt like it in cake),i added the sweet Orange pulp (Fresh)..I just peeled off the orange skin n the white fibres n added the pulp n then mixed t well at d end ..Definitely I was a lil doutful hw wud d cake turn out..coz i was using a diff ingredient n is was a bit flop..it tasted well…but did nt rise prprly.N hd become sticky n moist inside …Dnt kno why it went wrng….
Well,I had a general set of questions regarding cakes….pls help out..(m sorry if they sound v.silly to u)
1)Since i do not have a beater, i mix all the ingredients (as instructed) in a mixer(at blender option).But the stage When we have to add flour to the mixture n mix slowly..that time mixing shd be done by a hand/spatula or in the mixer? ..In fact whn i baked ur simple egg cake wh became perfect,i hd done mixing by spatule n a bit by hand also..But want to kno the exact procedure..
2)In case i want an orange flavor cake,i shd use orange juice? ..n do i hav to exclude milk or any othr ingredient in that case..?
Pls help..
Shilpa: Meenal, you can either mix in blender or by hand, it actually does not matter. Because I used to mix all with hand (using a big spoon) before I bought my blender. You have to just make sure all the ingredients are mixed well. Whatever way you can make that happen, it should be fine.
You cannot just take any recipe and add orange juice/pulp to make it a orange cake. Any cake needs to have some amount of leavening agents and when you change one of the ingredients, all needs to be changed proportionately. So if you want to bake a orange cake, pick up some orange cake recipe and follow it exactly. I will see if I can get any orange cake recipes for you. If I find one, I will surely post it here.
Hey Shilpa,
Thnks for d great guidance….so nice of u to give me detailed information n clarification.will surely kip all d above thngs in mind..N hey m thinkng whether “Wheat cake” wud be posible..It will add more nutrition value to cake..In case u try one,pls lemme kno..
Also,To tell u..ur site hs become my cooking guide n u my Guru..!!..it feels gr8 to hav found ur site n u 🙂 ..ur prompt rply on varios queries helps alot.Its an interactive session..wh is the best part..I chk ur site n decide my daily menu.N i hav tried many of d recipies in d curry section n theyr just awesomw..!!Thnks a lot for ur help dear..
Best wishes always.
Meenal.
Shilpa: Meenal, I haven’t tried any cake with wheat flour yet. Will keep an eye for it. Thanks for your kind words.
I didn’t decorate the cake…The cake look was ok. But it tasted bitter…Any idea why.
Shilpa: Did you make any changes to the cake? I am not sure what caused the bitter taste, sorry.
Hey Shilpa,
Tried Ginger cake today ..n as usual this one is also awesome..
Luks tempting..It rose v. well,has become soft n moist….n the ginger flavour goes very well…..very yummy…. cant stop eating….Nowadays,its always d cake season goin on in my house….evry other day m baking some of ur cakes..
Thnks for such simple n delicious recipies….I jst cant stop praising u n ur recipies yar….God bless u dear.
Thnks again.. Take care.
Meenal.
Hello Shilpa,
Iv baked most of ur cakes till nw..all became gud..
I hav a general query reg cakes..!!
As uv cited,In some recipies oil is used whereas in othrs butter is used..
Its my personal observation tht d cakes with butter are slightly more rich in texture/appearance n tastewise also..as compared to those with oil….is it really so.?
Also pls lemme kno…Wats d advantage that each Oil and Butter impart to the cake.N,Can they b used interchangeably..?
Best regards,
Meenal
Shilpa: Sorry Meenal, I don’t know about all these :(. I just bake with the recipes that sound interesting. Never gave any thought about oil/butter.
Okay Shilpa,no problem..Thnks for d prompt rply. Niways,il try n search these details….n chk if can find som concrete facts….if at all i find somthng reasonable will let u kno same..
Bye for nw.take care.
Meenal.
Hi Shilpa,
I have written down your date cake and ginger recipes and I am sure they will turn out great.I always wanted to learn icing and cake decoration so can you please tell me where you have your classes? I would definitely like to learn from you.The basket looks so good,authentic!!!!!!
Hi, Can i bake this cake without using the vanilla essence ..?.. as i dont have it on hand now..Hope the cake wont smell eggy after baking..?pls advice.
Thanks
Rita.
Hi
I tried the cake and it came out really well. Both my kids loved it. I used wheat flour instead of all purpose flour .
-Vaidehi