Spiced Plum Gingerbread Cake
Eat Tea Cookbook
by Joanna Pruess with John Harney
¼ Cup Spiced Plum Tea Leaves
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
½ up dark molasses
½ cup corn syrup
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 10-inch bundt pan, two 6-inch bundt pans or a 15 x 10 inch sheet pan.
Bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil, add to tea and steep 5 minutes. Strain to express as much liquid as possible.
Melt the butter, then stir it together with the brown sugar, molasses, and corn syrup. Set aside to cool.
Combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt in the bowl of a food processor or mixer and blend. Add the eggs and lemon zest and blend until smooth.
Stir in the baking soda into 1 cup of the tea. It will bubble up (looks grey) Stir the mixture into the batter, mixing well, then scrape into the prepared pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes for a 10-inch bundt pan, 20-30 minutes for 2- 6-inch bundt pans, or 40-45 minutes for a sheet pan. The top should be springy and a knife inserted near the center should come out clean. Remove pan and cool on cake rack.
Icing
Combine the remaining tea (1-2 tsp) with the lemon juice. Sift in the
confectioners sugar, whisking until a thick but spreadable pink icing
is achieved. Pour over the cooled gingerbread cake and let set.
