Benjamina's gingerbread cake with maple buttercream

Bacofoil teams up with Bake Off's Benjamina Ebeuhi to create a festive gingerbread cake with a twist.

This elegant, festive gingerbread cake has a lightly spiced sponge and an indulgent maple buttercream. Finish the cake with semi-naked icing and classic seasonal decorations to create the perfect showstopper for the Christmas dinner table.

Benjamina's gingerbread cake with maple buttercream

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 225g Unsalted butter
• 60g Treacle
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 150g Golden syrup
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 50g Stem ginger, finely chopped plus syrup
• 2 Eggs
• 300ml Full fat milk
• 350g Plain flour
• 2 tsp Bicarbonate soda
• ½ tsp Baking powder
• 4 ½ tsp Ground ginger
• 3 tsp Ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp Allspice
• ½ tsp Salt
• 50ml Stem ginger syrup
• 3 tbsp Water

Maple Buttercream:

• 250g Unsalted Butter, softened
• 180g Icing Sugar
• 50ml Maple Syrup

Optional Decorations:

• Desiccated coconut
• Gold leaf
• Sugared cranberries

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180°C
2. Heat the butter, treacle, golden syrup and vanilla in a saucepan until melted. Whisk in the brown sugar and set aside to cool
3. In a separate jug, whisk together the milk and eggs. Pour this into the butter and sugar mixture and whisk until fully combined
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Make a well in the centre and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until there are no large lumps
5. Divide the batter evenly between two tins and bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes
6. Whilst the cakes bake, heat the stem ginger syrup with 3 tbsp of water. Let it come to the boil before removing from the heat
7. Once the cakes are fully cooked, poke the surface with a skewer and pour over the hot syrup allowing it to soak through. Let the cakes cool before removing them from their tins and placing on a wire rack
8. When the layers are completely cool, wrap them in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to an hour to firm up. Once chilled, unwrap the cakes and use a sharp serrated knife to cut each layer into two so you have four layers in total. Set aside whilst you make the buttercream
9. To make the buttercream, beat softened butter for 3-4 minutes until pale and creamy. Add in icing sugar and continue to beat for another 5-6 minutes
10. Pour in the maple syrup and beat until fully incorporated
11. Assemble the cake by sandwiching each layer with some buttercream. When you get to the last layer place it cut side up, giving you a completely flat top. Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream for a semi-naked effect. Swirl some extra buttercream on the top of the cake before decorating with desiccated coconut, gold leaf and sugared cranberries

Benjamina’s Top Tip:

Once the sponge is baked, wrap the layer cakes in Bacofoil Cling Film using the Bacofoil EasyCut Cling Film Dispenser and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes. This keeps makes it easier to cut the cake in two, plus keeps the surface of the sponge really smooth and stops crumbs getting in the way during icing!