NordicWare Gingerbread House Cake

So as well as getting a nice new pair of hand knit socks, my Mum had to have a birthday cake as well.  Its the law!  It had to be able to withstand quite a few hours in the car and ideally stay tasty for a few days, so we could keep tucking into it over the weekend.

One of my Xmas presents from her was this brilliant Nordicware Gingerbread House tin.  So what better to use for her birthday cake, as it needed to be christened.

How do I look from this angle?

And this is my inside, that does all the hard work in creating a masterpiece!

On the inside of the sleeve that comes with the tin, you find a recipe for each different shaped bundt tin.  Not surprisingly for a Gingerbread House, you get a great recipe for Gingerbread Cake. There are many other free recipes on the Nordicware website, all able to hold the shape of the various different tins.

Here is the UK recipe for the Gingerbread Cake, which you could use is any cake tin.

• 345g cake flour - in the UK = Plain flour
• 225g Castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 135g light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 230g butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 300ml milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Heat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C - static oven, gas mark 3). Grease and lightly flour tin (I used Wilton's Cake Release again); set aside. In medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking powder; set aside. In large bowl, combine Castor sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping bowl often. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low. Blend flour mixture into sugar mixture, alternately with milk. Spoon batter into prepared tin, spreading batter slightly up onto the sides of the tin. 

Place tin on a baking sheet and bake for 55-66 minutes (I baked for 66 minutes as in a static oven), until toothpick (?) or skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool upright in tin for at least 10 minutes. 

Remove from tin onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

My cake then got popped in a cake tin and travelled up the M1, before getting a dusting of icing sugar.  It really makes the details pop!

The end result being a dense, but moist cake with a syrupy taste, that was just delicious.  We reckon it would be perfect with stem ginger ice cream and also a great cake to decorate with kids. Oh and I reckon, one happy recipient!

I love these Nordicware tins!

Happy baking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!