Name: Ginger-Stout Layer Cake With Ermine Frosting
Yield: Makes one 8-inch 3-layer cake
Ingredients: 1 cup stout, such as Guinness; 1 cup molasses; 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger; 1 Tbsp. baking soda; Cooking spray or unsalted butter, for the pans; 3 large eggs, room temperature; 100 g sugar (about ½ cup); 110 g dark brown sugar (about ½ cup); ¾ cup neutral oil, such as canola; 140 g all-purpose flour (about 1 cup), plus extra for the pans; 1½ tsp. baking powder; 2 Tbsp. ground ginger; ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp. ground cloves; ⅛ tsp. ground cardamom; 1.5 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt (½ tsp.); 50 g all-purpose flour (about 5¾ Tbsp.); 1¼ cups buttermilk; 1¼ tsp. vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract; 0.7 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt (¼ tsp.); 285 g unsalted butter (10 oz.), room temperature; 250 g sugar (about 1¼ cups); 2½ tsp. lemon zest

Ginger stout layer cake with buttermilk frosting.

Photo by Johnny Miller

I reworked my gingerbread recipe, published in The Last Course, and wound up with this delicious ginger-stout layer cake. I don’t like too much frosting, so I’m happy with generously icing between the layers and then finishing the top, leaving the sides au naturel. If you feel as I do, a single recipe of the buttermilk “ermine” frosting will do the trick; if you like more, increase the recipe by half.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Delectable' by Claudia Fleming. Buy the full book on Amazon.