Gingerbread cake

2020-03-20 11:45:43

As befits an inhabitant of Toruń – one of the most beautiful cities of Poland, famous for its delicious gingerbreads – I should first present a gingerbread product on the blog. Unfortunately the masters from Vega did not want to reveal to me the recipe for a vegan gingerbread, shrouded in mystery, but they promised that they will do it in the future in reward for my progress in food photography.

So I decided to prepare a cream cake based on gingerbread sponge, layered with a jam of dried plums and walnut cream.

Although gingerbreads are usually associated with Christmas, in reality some Torunians eat them all the year round, whereas tourists coming to Toruń after visiting The Living Museum of Gingerbread obligatorily go to gingerbread shops to gift them to their relatives after homecoming.

ingredients

sponge:

400 ml soy-rice milk
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
1 banana
1 apple
60 g xylitol
60 ml deodorized sunflower oil
335 g spelt flour type 450
35 g tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
10 teaspoons gingerbread spice
1/2 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
a pinch of pink Himalayan salt

plum jam:

200 g dried plums

walnut and chocolate cream:

160 g millet
550 ml coconut milk with the solid part
1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla or 1 vanilla pod
a pinch of pink Himalayan salt
200 g walnuts + additional amount for garnish
250 ml oat milk + a few spoons for easier blending
1 bar dark chocolate 85% cocoa (100 g)
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
maple syrup: 5 tablespoons for walnut cream and 5 tablespoons for chocolate cream

for garnish:

cinnamon sticks and vanilla pods, walnuts, optional additional chocolate, coconut slices

recipe

Pour white wine vinegar into the soy-rice milk and set aside for 15 minutes.

Put peeled fruits, sunflower oil, xylitol and the soy-rice milk with vinegar into the blender, then mix everything.

Sift both types of flour and combine with the rest of the dry ingredients.

Then mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones. Divide the batter equally into 3 parts, then pour into 3 springform pans (19 cm in diameter). Bake the sponges at 180 degrees Celsius for approx 30 minutes.*

Prepare millet: pour boiling water over millet and cook it covered over low heat in coconut milk with a pinch of salt and vanilla. Do not stir!

Pour hot water over dried plums and soak for 20 minutes. Then blend them to a smooth jam. You can also add a little water to make blending easier.

Walnut cream: wash nuts and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast at 160-170 degrees Celsius for 7 minutes, then stir gently trying to turn them over and roast for another 7 minutes.** Then set aside to cool a little. Put the roasted walnuts and oat milk into the blender and mix to a smooth mousse. Put 350 g cooked millet, walnut mousse and maple syrup in a bowl and blend to a smooth cream.***

Chocolate cream: 70 g dark chocolate melted over a low heat in a saucepan with coconut oil. 350 g cooked millet blended with the melted chocolate, maple syrup and oat milk (to make blending easier) to a smooth cream.***

Prepare the sponges: if the upper part is convex, carefully cut it away.

Spread the plum jam on the first sponge, place the second one on top and apply the walnut cream. Put the third sponge on top and spread it also with walnut cream, but add only a thin layer. Spread the sides of the gingerbread cake with the chocolate cream. The remaining cream can be used to decorate the cake. For the garnish, use also walnuts, pieces of chocolate, grated chocolate, coconut slices, cinnamon and vanilla or whatever you fancy.

The rest of the cream feel free to just chow down.

* Sponges should be baked in the evening one day before your guests arrive, so that they can rest and keep the fluffiness before being decorated.

** It is worth roasting the walnuts, because they get a better taste and aroma, and the whole cake acquires a new quality.

*** It is very important to blend carefully so that the millet is not noticeable in the cream.