Gingerbread spiced chocolate cake
A rich and moist gingerbread spiced chocolate cake, layered with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, caramel, and crushed speculoos.
A wonderfully festive flavour for the chocolate lover, the smooth and light Swiss buttercream complements the decadence of the chocolate cake.
Not gonna lie, I was super tempted to make another speculoos spread cake this year because it's SUCH a good cake (recipe here!), but I thought I should change it up a bit. PLUS, I made such a good chocolate cake earlier this year as just one portion of my birthday cake (that recipe here!), so I decided to let it shine as the main cake this time, and spiced it up a little. Literally.
I added typical gingerbread spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to the chocolate cake batter, but if you'd prefer just the chocolate with no spices, please feel free to omit! I know spices aren't for everyone. The caramel is also a spiced caramel, but again feel free to omit the spice! The brother, for instance, prefers the caramel without the spice.
The crushed speculoos between the layers turns into a soft cakey texture after absorbing the moisture from the buttercream and caramel, so it doesn't add texture, but it sure does add flavour.
Went for super simple decoration this year, with just rosemary 'trees', using the woodier part of the stem like little logs, and adding some extra crushed speculoos for 'dirt'.
You can see how I decorated a Christmas cake in a previous year using cookies and chocolate here. I just wanted something that involved a lot less work this year, and I still think it looks rather festive though simple.
The Swiss meringue buttercream is super simple and is so much smoother, less sweet, and feels lighter in the mouth than American buttercream.
Swiss meringue buttercream tips
Use ROOM TEMPERATURE butter. If your butter is too hard, it won't whip into the meringue properly. If it is too soft, it will make it soupy.
However, if your buttercream looks separated, curdled-looking, or soupy, JUST KEEP WHIPPING! Most likely it will come together eventually. If not, try refrigerating (if soft and soupy) or gently heating (if clumpy) before whipping again.
My recipe below can use 600g-800g of butter (I haven't tried anything more or less). Taste and look at the texture after adding 600g and see if it is to your liking. Otherwise, feel free to add more. Keep in mind that less butter means a bit whiter.
Heat the egg whites and sugar to 72°C to pasteurise them since we aren't baking or cooking them fully.
Recipe
For the spiced chocolate cake
Makes 2 20cm cakes
INGREDIENTS:
1c hot water OR coffee (I used 2 1/2 tsp instant coffee)
85g cocoa
125g dark or milk chocolate, finely chopped
1c milk
350g plain flour
1tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
2tsp baking powder
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp mixed spice
1/2tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1tsp ground cinnamon
300g unsalted butter, room temperature
450g brown sugar
5 eggs
1tbsp vanilla extract
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 2 20cm cake pans.
2. Combine the hot coffee OR water, and cocoa. Whisk to combine. Add in the finely chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth and melted. Pour in the milk and set aside to cool.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, ensuring they are fully incorporated between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
5. Beat in 1/4 of the flour mixture, then 1/3 of the cocoa mixture. Repeat until all have been beaten in.
6. Evenly pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes then transfer to cooling racks to completely cool.
For the spiced (optional) caramel
INGREDIENTS:
200g sugar (castor, brown, or a combination of both)
90g unsalted butter, cubed
1/2c cream
1 1/2tsp mixed spice
METHOD:
1. Melt the sugar in a pot on a low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly.
2. Once the sugar has melted, add in the butter and whisk vigorously to combine. Keep whisking until it comes together into a smooth mixture.
3. Drizzle in the cream a little at a time, whisking constantly. Boil for roughly 2-3 minutes or until your desired consistency (you can check by dripping a little onto a cold plate).
For the Swiss meringue buttercream
INGREDIENTS:
8 egg whites
450g castor sugar
700g unsalted butter, room temperature
2tsp vanilla extract
METHOD:
1. Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or a large heatproof bowl and hand whisk to roughly combine. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water or a double boiler, ensuring the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
2. Gently hand whisk the egg whites and sugar over the heat until it feels hot and no longer gritty or grainy when you rub it between your fingers OR until it reaches 72°C.
3. Remove from the heat and place the bowl back onto your stand mixer or onto your benchtop. Start beating on a low to medium-low speed with the whisk attachment or with your hand-mixer. When making meringue, the lower speed ensures the bubbles are smaller and more compact. Keep beating until you have reached soft peaks, then increase speed to medium to medium-high until stiff peaks form. This step may take a while. Feel free to give your mixer a rest from time to time.
4. Swap to the paddle attachment. With the mixer running on a medium-low speed, spoon in the butter, roughly a tablespoon at a time. Ensure the butter is fully combined before adding the next tablespoon. After adding all the butter, increase speed to medium-high or high and beat until it is thick and smooth. If it looks broken or loose, just keep beating it! It will come together eventually. It's like an emulsification. If it's still not coming together, place it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes then take it out and beat it again.
To assemble
INGREDIENTS:
1 batch spiced chocolate cake
1 batch caramel
1 batch Swiss meringue buttercream
250g speculoos biscuits, crushed
rosemary (optional), for decorating
METHOD:
1. Level the cakes and slice them evenly in half horizontally to create 4 layers. Place one layer onto a cake board or serving plate.
2. Evenly spread on some of the buttercream. Drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with crushed speculoos.
3. Place another layer on top and repeat step 2.
4. Repeat step 3.
5. Place the last layer on top and spread a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake to seal in the crumbs. Place in the fridge until buttercream is firm to the touch.
6. Spread a thicker layer of buttercream all over the cake. Decorate with crushed speculoos and rosemary.
That's it!
Have a wonderful holiday season!
