Spiced Plum Gingerbread Cake (Recipe)

Learn to make Spiced Plum Gingerbread Cake courtesy of John Harney and Joanna Pruess of Harney & Sons Fine Teas

Gingerbread is a traditional holiday favorite. Harney’s Spiced Plum tea imparts flavor to the cake batter as well as a lovely pale pink hue of the final glaze. Sweet lovers of all ages will love it.

Spiced Plum Gingerbread Cake

Makes one 10-inch/26-cm bundt cake

• ¼ cup Spiced Plum tea leaves  
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter 
• ½ cup each firmly packed dark brown sugar, dark molasses, and corn syrup
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour   
• 1½ tsp each ground ginger and ground cinnamon  
• ½ tsp each ground cloves and ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

To make the cake:

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  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Grease one 10 x 3 1/2-inch (25 x 9-cm) bundt pan.
  2. Bring 1½ cups of water to a boil, remove from heat, add the tea, and steep for 5 minutes; then strain, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.
  3. Melt the butter; then stir it together with the brown sugar, molasses, and corn syrup. Set aside to cool.
  4. Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to blend. Scrape in the butter-sugar mixture and blend. Add the eggs and lemon zest and process until smooth.
  5. Stir the baking soda into 1 cup of the tea. It will bubble up. Stir the mixture into the batter, mixing well; then scrape it into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is springy and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the pan and cool on a cake rack.
  6. Combine the remaining tea with the lemon juice. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar, whisking until you have a thick but spreadable icing. Pour over the cooled cake and let it set.

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