I have so many memories wrapped up in this cake. All I have to do is start grating ginger and I’m ten years old again, in the kitchen with Genie and Aunt Melba learning how much I love to cook. As I pick up the oranges I think back to that first day at Delicious! when Jake asked me to bake for him, grateful that I’m no longer frightened. By the time the cake is in the oven, sending its rich, spicy aroma into the air, I’m thinking about Lulu, and how lucky I was to find her.
This cake is great when it’s just been glazed, but it’s even better the next day: spicier, richer, more forceful. When I put a little sliver into my mouth, its friendly intensity reminds me how much I like my life now, and I turn to offer Mitch the second bite.
Is my gingerbread as good as the one my mother made? How could I possibly know? But I do know this: it’s good enough.
whole black peppercorns
whole cloves
whole cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sour cream
1½ sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large pieces fresh ginger root (¼ cup, tightly packed, when finely grated)
zest from 2 to 3 oranges (1½ teaspoons finely grated)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 6-cup Bundt pan.
Grind your peppercorns, cloves, and cardamom and measure out ¼ teaspoon of each. (You can use pre-ground spices, but the cake won’t taste as good.)
Grind your cinnamon stick and measure out 1 teaspoon. (Again, you can use ground cinnamon if you must.)
Whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a small bowl.
In another small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk into the sour cream. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until the mixture is light, fluffy, and almost white. This should take about 3 minutes.
Grate the ginger root—this is a lot of ginger—and the orange zest. Add them to the butter/sugar mixture.
Beat the flour mixture and the egg mixture, alternating between the two, into the butter until each addition is incorporated. The batter should be as luxurious as mousse.
Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until cake is golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean.
Remove to a rack and cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
½ cup bourbon
1½ tablespoons sugar
While the cake cools in its pan, simmer the bourbon and the sugar in a small pot for about 4 minutes. It should reduce to about ⅓ cup.
While the cake is still in the pan, brush half the bourbon mixture onto its exposed surface (the bottom of the cake) with a pastry brush. Let the syrup soak in for a few minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack.
Gently brush the remaining mixture all over the cake.
¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted or put through a strainer
5 teaspoons orange juice
Once the cake is cooled, mix the sugar with the orange juice and either drizzle the glaze randomly over the cake or put it into a squeeze bottle and do a controlled drizzle.