The sign of a job well done

You know when you have got it right, culinarily speaking, in our house. This is what you see:

 

(occasionally accompanied by a similar mess on the floor). If their evil wife/mother was any more lax with table manners, then she would let them simply lick the plate, and there would be even less evidence of the deliciousness that came before.

This weekend's crumbs came courtesy of an amazing cake recipe I found in Cooking Light magazine. In my more gullible moments, I like to think this means that it is therefore healthy, not fattening, and full of useful vitamins and stuff. Whether you join me in my gullible state or not, you simply have to agree that this one is delicious, and it will definitely be making another appearance chez Farrar some time soon. It definitely isn't a 'whip-out-a-bowl-a-couple-of-eggs-stir-and-bake-hey-presto' kind of cake, but the additional effort is well worth it, as the detritus above serves to prove.

Tropical Gingerbread Cake

cake:
oil spray
2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 TBSP grated peeled fresh ginger root
2 large egg yolks
2 TBSP molasses
3/4 cup light coconut milk
4 large egg whites

frosting:
3 large egg whites
dash of salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

remaining ingredients:
1/3 cup orange marmelade
1/4 cup sliced crystallized candied stem ginger (or toasted flaked sweetened coconut, as in original)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly spray two 9" cake pans with oil spray.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and stir with a whisk.
4. Place butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and ginger in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until well blended (about 5 mins). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. At low speed, add flour mixture alternately with coconut milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
5. Place 4 egg whites in a large clean bowl. Beat with mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
6. Gently stir 1/4 of egg white mixture into batter, then gently fold in the remainder of the egg white mixture. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out on to a cooling rack to cool completely.
8. To prepare frosting, place 3 egg whites and dash of salt in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer on high speed until foamy. Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, then cook without stirring until temperature reaches 250 degrees F (I don't have a candy thermometer, so used a coffee thermometer I have that goes up to 220 and just guessed after that. The mixture started to caramelize and go brown shortly after it reached 220, so I stopped there.) Pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over the egg white mixture, beating at high speed all the time, until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla.
9. To assemble, place one cake layer on a plate and spread with the marmelade, then 1 cup of the frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over sides and top of assempted cake. Sprinkle top with ginger/coconut. Store loosely covered in the refrigerator.