I went wedding venue hunting this weekend with the fiance in tow. We were headed to the valley and it’s been unbearably hot in Los Angeles for what feels like the past billion weeks, so we went first thing in the morning. What that meant was a 7am wake up call on a Saturday, and me regretting that last glass of wine at dinner.
Lately, drinking for me means not sleeping very well. I was up from about 3:30 to 6:00, which made 7:00am feel like hell. Getting old sucks – period.
We loved the venue, it was rustic with multiple houses and a beautiful garden where we could have our ceremony. What we didn’t love – you can only have the venue till 10pm (it’s a LA city park) and alcohol has to stop a hour before that. That’s 9pm for those of you not wanting to do math on a Monday – and we might be chased out of our own wedding with pitchforks (or empty cocktail glasses) by our friends and family if we go that route.
We have one more that we’re looking at that also has a ton of charm, it closer to the ocean, and doesn’t have the curfew of a 90-year-old.
But after an early morning of wedding crap, I came home and whipped up this spiced honey cake and then I thought – “how can I make this even more seasonally appropriate?”
That’s when I ground up a bunch of gingersnap cookies, sifted them through a fine mesh sieve, and mixed them into a fabulous buttercream frosting. And let me tell you – IT WAS GLORIOUS!
Ginger, spices, sugar, cake – POW! POW! POW! The cake was moist and a little sticky from the honey (that description make your squirm a bit too?!) and the frosting was just, well, the icing on the cake. Frosting can sometimes be a little lackluster, but this one had another level of flavor, it just elevated everything.
So tell me about your weekend, what did you do? How’s the weather? Did you get to do fun fall things like pick apples and wear scarves – tell me everything!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- ½ cup buttermilk
- rosemary, for garnish if desired
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup ground gingersnap cookies, passed through a fine mesh sieve
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9″ pan with nonstick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, fresh ginger, and nutmeg to combine.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, brown sugar, coconut oil, honey, egg and egg yolk. Beat on medium speed until mixture is pale and thickened, about 4 minutes.
- Reduce speed and gradually add vanilla, orange juice and buttermilk.
- Beat until frothy, about 2 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Beat until just combine. The batter will be thin, similar to pancake batter.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until cake is golden brown and the center springs back when touched, about 45-55 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen and invert onto rack; let cool completely.
- While the cake is baking, combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer running, slowly add the ground gingersnap cookies.
- Add the milk and vanilla and beat for about 3 to 5 minutes. Adjust consistency as needed by adding more confectioners’ sugar or milk as needed.
- Frost cooled cake and garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs, if desired.
