Rahul Mandal

A necessary bit of honesty

This is a complete public recreation, not Rahul’s baker-original formula. Relaxed Recipes publishes it as a caramel-ginger cake associated with Rahul’s bake; its ingredients and method are the usable source. The television handshake belongs to Rahul’s Bonfire Night cake, while this card gives home bakers a clearly labelled route into its ginger, caramel, and honeycomb territory.

Ingredients

Cake

• 300g plain flour
• 10ml baking powder
• 2.5ml bicarbonate of soda
• 45ml ground ginger
• 5ml ground cinnamon
• 2.5ml ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 60ml black treacle
• 30ml golden syrup
• 250ml whole milk
• 75g stem ginger, finely chopped
• 100g bonfire toffee, broken into small pieces

Caramel buttercream and sauce

• 4 large egg whites
• 200g superfine/caster sugar
• 300g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
• 5ml vanilla extract
• 150g cooled caramel sauce
• 200g superfine/caster sugar
• 90ml double/heavy cream
• 50g unsalted butter
• 5ml sea-salt flakes
• Ginger honeycomb, broken into shards
• Extra caramel sauce, for drizzling

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line three 8-inch (20cm) cake tins. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices, and salt together.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the treacle and golden syrup. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in the stem ginger and toffee.
3. Divide the batter among the tins and bake for 25–30 minutes, until springy. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks.
4. Make the salted caramel. Heat the sugar in a heavy pan until deep amber. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. Stir in the butter and salt, then cool completely.
5. For the Swiss meringue buttercream, whisk the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl over simmering water until the mixture reaches 70°C. Whisk on high until cool and thick. Add the butter a piece at a time, then beat in the vanilla and cooled caramel sauce.
6. Level the cakes. Put the first layer on a plate and spread with buttercream; repeat with the other layers. Cover the cake with the remaining buttercream and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Warm a little reserved caramel until pourable but not hot. Drizzle it down the sides and finish with ginger honeycomb just before serving.

Baker’s tips

• Let the caramel cool fully before it meets the buttercream or the butter will soften into a puddle.
• Keep the toffee pieces small and the folding gentle; a heavy hand knocks the air out of the batter.
• Make space in the refrigerator before you begin. This cake likes a short, cold reset between assembly and decoration.

Make-ahead

Bake the layers one day ahead and wrap them well. Make the caramel and buttercream ahead, then bring the buttercream to a spreadable temperature and beat it briefly before assembling.