Sydney Food Bloggers Spring Picnic 2010

So.... this was my nicely smooth and glossy triple ginger cake with honey marshmallow icing that I baked for the 2010 Food Bloggers Spring Picnic last Saturday... All perfectly plated and ready to be transported to the event.

Turned up to centennial park, saw the group of people standing around wearing funny hats, marched up to them feigning confidence in my cake-baking skills and blushed in horror when I figured out that not only had I forgotten a box/cover for my extra-sticky cake, but upon putting it down, someone plonked their jacket on top of it and had smooshed the icing all over the place. The glossy marshmallow exterior was no more! What was left was a dirt and grass be-speckled embarrassment, hardly worthy for a food bloggers event! Oh the shame.

Lucky I took this photo before the carnage.

It really is a spectacular cake, inspired by this absolutely beautiful blog trotski & ash that I have recently stumbled upon.

I changed the recipe a little, omitting the sultanas and adding the icing and crystallized ginger on top. The icing LOOKS pretty but it really is too chewy and sticky to be appropriate for a cake, when I make this cake again (which will be in the very near future let me tell you), I think I'll make cupcakes instead, the icing would be seriously easier to deal with when there is only one person eating it.

The cake is fresh and zingy with a plume of heat at the end. The three types of ginger round it out and intensify the flavour. Make it the day before and wrap it in foil to let it "mature", I promise you it will be worth the wait.

Here are some pics from the picnic, it was so lovely to meet you all and taste your fantastic food!

Triple Ginger Cake with Honey Marshmallow Icing:

adapted from Trotski & Ash

250g self-raising flour
2 level tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
200g golden syrup
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp finely chopped crystallised ginger
125g butter
1 thumb sized nob of fresh ginger, grated
125g dark brown sugar
2 large free-range eggs
240ml milk

2 bags of vanilla marshmallows (approx 200g)

squeeze of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of honey

Grease and line a square cake tin around 20-22cm.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C. Sieve the flour with the ground ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and the salt. Put the golden syrup, the honey and the butter into a small saucepan, and warm over a low heat. Dice the crystallised ginger finely then add it to the pan with the fresh ginger and brown sugar. Let the mixture simmer on low heat for a minute, stirring occasionally to keep everything moving. Watch the mixture doesn't bubble over, take off the heat if it looks very frothy.
Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk and whisk together. Remove the butter and sugar mixture from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Pour the hot mix into the flour, stirring smoothly and firmly with a large metal spoon. Mix in the milk and eggs to this mixture. The mixture should be sloppy, with no trace of flour.

Scoop the mixture into the non-stick or lined cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. Unless you are serving it warm, leave the cake in its tin to cool, then tip out on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Wrap it up again in foil and leave to mature for a day or two before eating.

When the cake has cooled completely, place the marshmallows in a microwave bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds (check it every 10 seconds) until all melted. Whisk in the honey and the lemon juice until the icing is smooth and glossy. Let it cool a little then spread on top of the cake, working from the centre, letting it drip down the sides. Garnish with some chopped crystallised ginger on top in the middle.