Gingerbread bundt cake with caramel

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Ginger-heavy, deeply treacly, and gorgeously bold, this gingerbread bundt cake with gooey caramel from former Masterchef Australia champion Emelia Jackson is the perfect mid-winter pick-me-up.

Closely resembling a pound cake with its tight and buttery crumb structure, Emelia says the heavy spice mixture pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the caramel drip over the top. Find it in her cookbook, You Had Me At Cake, and enjoy a delicious ginger winter. This recipe makes a 24cm bundt cake (oil sprayed).

Ingredients

Caramel
• 125g caster sugar
• 75 ml thickened cream
• 30g unsalted butter, cubed
• Pinch of salt
Gingerbread cake
• 120g unsalted butter, softened
• 120g brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 45g molasses or treacle
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 2 eggs
• 235g plain flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 180ml buttermilk

Method

1. For the caramel, cook the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the edges begin to turn amber. As we are not adding water to the sugar, there is no risk of it crystallising, so you can stir as needed to achieve an evenly burnished golden brown. Continue to cook the sugar until it is an even, deeply golden colour.
2. Add the cream and butter – be careful, as it will splatter – and cook until the sugar has dissolved into the cream to make a smooth caramel sauce. Stir in the salt and set aside in a heatproof container to cool while you bake the cake.
3. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan-forced and generously spray a 24cm bundt tin with oil.
4. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, molasses or treacle and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until pale and fluffy, before adding the eggs, one at a time, and mixing until completely combined.
5. Sift the flour, spices, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda over the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Finally, mix through the buttermilk. Pour the batter into the bundt tin and use an offset spatula to spread it out into an even layer.
6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Transfer to a serving plate and pour over the caramel sauce before serving.

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Images and text from You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson.
Photography by Armelle Habib, published by Murdoch Books, RRP $45.00