Ginger & Lemon Buttercream Stripe Cake
Sticky ginger cake packed full of flavour, sandwiched with lemon curd buttercream and covered in vanilla buttercream stripes and a white chocolate drip. The perfect centrepiece for your Christmas table!
Ingredients
Sponges
- 450 g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tbsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 200 g black treacle
- 200 g golden syrup
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 550 ml whole milk
Lemon Buttercream
- 110 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 220 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- 160 g lemon curd
- 1 pinch of salt
Filling
- 3 bulbs stem ginger in syrup chopped finely
Vanilla Buttercream
- 450 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 800 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- red & green food colouring
White Chocolate Drip
- 100 g white candy melts
- 50 ml double cream
Instructions
- For the sponges: Firstly, preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas Mark 5 and line three 8inch round baking tins. Then set aside.
- Combine the flour, bicarb, ginger and mixed spice in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium pan, combine the butter, treacle, golden syrup and sugar and set over a low heat. Stir until the butter has melted - the mixture will feel looser. Then pour into the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Then add the eggs and whisk again. Finally, add the milk and whisk again until just combined. Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 26-28 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 5 minutes, before removing and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the lemon buttercream: Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use an electric hand whisk) and beat on high until pale and softened. Then add the icing sugar and beat again for around 5 minutes until well combined and fluffy. Then beat in the milk, lemon curd and salt until combined. Set aside.
- For the vanilla buttercream: Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can use an electric hand whisk) and beat on high until pale and softened. Then add the icing sugar and beat again for around 5 minutes until well combined and fluffy. Then beat in the vanilla and salt until combined.
- Remove about 1/4 of the vanilla buttercream and divide into two bowls. Colour one with red food colouring and the other with green food colouring. Then set aside.
- To assemble: Spread a little of the lemon buttercream onto your cake board or plate, and then place one of the cooled sponges on top and press down to stick. Then using a palette knife, spread 1/3 of the lemon buttercream on top in an even layer and top with half of the chopped stem ginger. Then place the second sponge on top and press down gently to stick. Spread another 1/3 of the lemon buttercream on top in an even layer, and top with the remaining chopped stem ginger. Then place the final sponge on top and press down again to stick. Coat the whole cake in the remaining lemon buttercream and using a buttercream scraper, scrape the sides and top to ensure its smooth. Then place in the fridge for 45 minutes to chill - this is your crumb coat.
- Using a palette knife, coat the entire cake in a thick layer of vanilla buttercream. Using the smooth side of the scraper, scrape around the cake a few times to smooth it out. Then using the striped side of the buttercream scraper, scrape around the cake to create ridged indentations. Clean your scraper between each scrape, and make sure you place it in the same position each time. Keep scraping until you have clear ridged indentations. Then place in the fridge for 45 minutes until the buttercream is hard.
- Place the red and green buttercreams into separate piping bags. Then pipe into the indentations on the cake, making sure to alternate the colours. Using the smooth side of the scraper, scrape around the cake smoothing out the buttercream. Clean your scraper between each scrape, and scrape slowly but deliberately. Keep scraping until the stripes are clearly defined, but don't be tempted to over do it! Then place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- For the drip: Place the candy melts in a small heat-proof bowl. Then heat the cream either in the microwave or in a pan until its just simmering, then pour over the candy melts. Stir until the candy melts have melted and combined with the cream. Then leave to thicken slightly for around 15 minutes. Finally, using a small spoon (or a piping bag) spoon the ganache over the edges of the cake to create drips. Then fill in the center with the remaining ganache, being careful not to spread too much as you don't want to cause your drips to run further down. Then leave to set.
Notes
Cake will keep for 4-5 days in an air-tight container.