This recipe comes from a German website which you can find here. This is a recipe that is great for a large crowd. It is dense and moist and goes a long way since it is quite rich. My husband loved this cake. The cake did take twice as long to bake compared to what the recipe states. Mine baked for a good hour. I also used a stout beer in this cake and would suggest that any dark German beer is fine. I found that when the cake cooled down to where it could be sliced and eaten (about two hours later) you could somewhat taste the beer. Almost like a tinge of bitterness. I waited again to taste it until the next morning and it was perfect. All the flavors had blended perfectly. So remember that this cake is best when served the next day and also a less strong beer might be better than a stout. It is definitely worth making and like I said, it would be perfect for a large crowd. I'll be back again tomorrow to post my favorite sugar cookie recipe that I started using about 25 years ago!!!!! Still have more cookies to bake and not even sure which ones I will be making. I'm not very organized....there are so many good cake and cookie recipes out there that I just can't decide....!!!!
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark German beer
1 cup molasses
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (I used 2 teaspoons ground ginger)
1 stick unsalted butter, softenend
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 (3 1/2 ounce) bar German dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped crystalized ginger (don't substitute for this)
Confectioners sugar to garnish, optional
Preheat over to 350 F. Generously butter and flour a 10 cup Bundt pan. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk together the dark German beer, molasses and ginger in a medium bowl and set aside.
Combine butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl and beat at medium speed with a mixer for 2 minutes, or until mixture is light and fluffy. In 3 additions, alternately beat in flour mixture and beer mixture at low speed until batter is smooth. Stir in chocolate and crystallized ginger. Spoon batter into prepared pan, smoothing top of batter.
Bake 30 - 35 minutes (I baked mine 1 hour) or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Dust cake with confectioners' sugar, if desired.
Tip: I have found that when buying crystallized ginger it is about 1/3 of the price if you can find it at either an Asian grocery store or in the Asian food section of your local grocery store.
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Happy new year!