A Christmas cake that will look aesthetically pleasing on your table. It will taste even better than it looks too, by giving you traditional gingerbread flavours with a nice creamy finish.
Preparation time: 40 minutes | Cooking time: 50 minutes | Makes: 10-12
Ingredients:
- 250g butter, diced and softened
- 1 1⁄4 cups caster sugar
- 2⁄3 cup golden syrup
- 4 extra large eggs
- 2 3⁄4 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp McKENZIE’S Baking Powder
- 1 tsp McKENZIE’S Bi-Carb Soda
- 2 tsp McKENZIE’S Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp McKENZIE’S Mixed Spice
- 1 1⁄3 cups warm milk
- Cinnamon Cream:
- 300ml thickened cream
- 200g mascarpone
- 1⁄4 cup icing sugar mixture, sifted
- 1 tsp McKENZIE’S Ground Cinnamon
- Coconut Balls:
- 250g plain sweet biscuits
- 3⁄4 cup McKENZIE’S Desiccated Coconut
- 395g can condensed milk
- 1 tsp McKENZIE’S Ground Cinnamon
- Extra McKENZIE’S Desiccated Coconut, for rolling
- Rosemary sprigs, for decoration
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line the base and sides of 2 x 20cm cake pans.
- Place butter, sugar and golden syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, bi-carb and spices, alternately with the milk, until the batter is smooth and well combined. Pour between the prepared pans and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, cut each cake in half, to form four layers.
- For the cream, beat cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form, add mascarpone, icing sugar and cinnamon, mixing until well combined and mixture has thickened. Refrigerate until required.
- For the balls, place biscuits in a food processor, pulsing until fine crumbs. Remove to a mixing bowl and stir in the coconut, condensed milk and cinnamon. Mix until well combined. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and toss in extra coconut.
- For assembly, place one layer of cake onto a serving plate, spread with 1⁄4 of the cinnamon cream, top with another layer of cake, continuing until all layers are stacked. Finishing the top with a more decorative swirl of cinnamon cream. Arrange rosemary sprigs upside down into cake and decorate with cinnamon balls. Sprinkle rosemary with extra icing sugar. Serve.
Notes:
● Add some finely chopped glace ginger to the ball mixture before rolling or to the cinnamon cream for that extra ginger kick.
● Save remaining balls for morning or afternoon tea. These will keep for 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge.
● Refrigerate cake for up to 5 days.