Chocolate Ginger Cake

I love ginger and it is very good for you. So I try to add it to as many things as possible. Here I've added it to my chocolate cake so therefore I have just made this cake healthy for you! You're welcome. I think spices are romantic so while I normally am a chocolate purist, for Valentine's Day I break the rule. I've used fresh grated ginger, ginger powder and diced crystalized ginger in this cake. While you may be tempted to think, wow that's too much ginger for me - think again. The fresh and powdered ginger are subtle. What you taste is the crystalized ginger and it adds a nice, spicy texture that is super romantic. This is not gingerbread or even chocolate gingerbread. It's a chocolate cake spiced with ginger. The cake recipe is a Texas Sheet Cake style of preparation. It is baked in a 13x9 pan and then I used my large heart cookie cutter to cut the cake, but you can certainly leave it in the pan and cut into your favorite shape. I kept the icing simple - powdered sugar and cream - because, let's face it, neither of us are pastry chefs. I like colored sugar to decorate but please, use the icing and decoration of your preference.

Chocolate Ginger Cake

cooking spray or butter for greasing the pan

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

2 cups Castle Valley Mill soft wheat or good quality organic flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 tablespoon diced crystalized ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 large eggs. lightly beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large heat safe bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, soda and salt. In a small bowl mix together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder then add 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat and whisk into the flour mixture until smooth. Then whisk in egg mixture. Pour into 13x9 pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing, mix together 3 cups of powdered sugar with 4 tablespoons or so of cream. You want a thick but pourable consistency. Enjoy!