Ginger Layer Cake with Salted Whiskey Caramel

I don’t know about everyone else, but when I host people at my house I am torn between going with one of my tried and true recipes or experimenting with something new. As long as I haven’t served my go to recipe to my guests before, it’s still new to them so definitely a safe bet. On the flip side, I have so many new recipes I want to try, it’s more rewarding going through the trouble of a new recipe if more people will get to enjoy it.

So last night I hosted friends over and decided to do all new recipes, including dessert, which is essentially what this post is about. And me being me, I of course had to make everything from scratch and chose the most complicated dishes. I really like to make my life difficult for myself sometimes.

Though I have to admit, the appetizers were actually pretty simple. I recently discovered if you blend feta cheese with whipped cream cheese in a food processer it makes the most heavenly, fluffy concoction. Just spread it over crackers or bread, top it with anything or nothing. I spread it out on a dish, cracked some fresh pepper, drizzled some olive oil on it and topped it with some chopped fresh parsley (Yall know how much I love parsley). I served it with a side of kalamata olives which also is good to just pop on top of the cheese whip.

My guests went nuts over it. It’s also great because it keeps really well. I made it two days prior to my dinner and stored it in a tupper. About an hour before my guests arrived I took it out of the fridges so it wouldn’t be so cold, took 1 minute to prep it with the pepper, oil and parsley and was done. The whipped feta is definitely going to be my new go to app (click on link for recipe).

The other starter I made was your typical cream cheese and jalapeño in a fluffy pastry but with a slight twist. I took the recipe from another blog that added a secret ingredient: sugar. It was pretty good but way too spicy, too much jalapeño. And I added bacon, which is always a good idea. It’s fairly easy and also something you can make ahead and just pop in the oven just before your guests arrive. Click here for my modified cream cheese & jalapeño pinwheels recipe.

For dinner I choose a French beef stew. French recipes can often be complicated and fussy, but this one was pretty simple. It took a lot of planning ahead as the meat needs to marinate for 24 hours and the stew has to cook for 2-3, but other than that, it was easy.

We have been having unseasonably warm temperatures here in Georgia, but thankfully it rained the night before my dinner and brought with it a chill, so the stew was perfect for a cozy, holiday dinner. I served the stew over garlicy mashed potatoes and it was a hit. Everyone was satisfied and full…but thankfully they had left room for the grand finale…

DESSERT!

I’m not really a huge dessert person. I know I keep saying that and then I keep posting sweet recipes, so maybe I need to admit that my taste buds are changing? Or maybe it’s just that there is something about baking that’s fun to me. It’s a little more intricate and precise than cooking savory. You can always do an extra drizzle of olive oil or an extra onion and the recipe will be fine, but with baking if it calls for 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda, you have to do exactly 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda. For some reason that’s fun for me.

So I had this dessert pinned on my Pinterest board from a blog called Top with Cinnamon for a long time and thought this was finally the time to make it: Ginger layer cake with Salted Whiskey Caramel.

Ya’ll. It was sooooo good.

But ya’ll. It was sooooo hard to make. There were like 47 steps and it took me three full hours of consistent baking.

And there was so much butter. SO. MUCH. BUTTER.

I was a little nervous how the cake was going to turn out. There were just so many little steps and I was working with a couple of ingredients I had never used before so I didn’t know what to expect. Not to mention there was a lot of caramelizing of sugar going on and it’s so easy to mess that up and burn it.

But, all in all it turned out great. I was just diligent in following the directions. I literally read the recipe about five times over before even starting so that I was really prepped. And thank goodness I did because it wasn’t until about the third read through that I finally understood the directions for the buttercream.

The one thing I really need to work on is the layers. How the heck do pastry chefs cut their cakes so evenly? My cake was definitely a little lopsided. I was worried when we cut into the cake that it was going to fall apart, but the fridge hardened up the buttercream so it all kept together!

Again, my guests went nuts over the cake and Marc is in heaven because he has a whole half of a cake as leftovers to finish off.

This was one of the least healthy meals I have ever made in my whole life. But hey it’s the holidays!

Last night we paired the cake with a Pineau des Charentes dessert wine that went PERFECTLY with the cake. Today, as I write this post, I am pairing it with a cup of tea. Both equally delicious.

Or maybe I should spike my tea with that tiny bit of dessert wine still left in the fridge?

I’ll be right back…

 

(Please click here for complete and detailed instructions on making this dessert. You can follow along with my pictures but PLEASE use the recipe from Top with Cinnamon. My pictures are just to guide you.)