“The darkest night has the brightest stars” – John Green.

You know those messages you get about seeing the positives in the lockdown. Enjoying your own company. Learning a new skill. Focus on life s little pleasures. Forgo the planning.

Me? All that is true i guess – to different extents. But one positive for me which may seem silly for most is that I have learnt to see veggies in a whole new light. You see, the nearby grocery stores didn’t have the usual supplies and agribusinesses from nearby started supplying directly to our buildings. So not only does the super fresh produce urge you to eat healthier, but you are even tempted to try out things that you found totally unappetising earlier. I have eaten more veggies during this lockdown than – lets just say in a long long time!

Why am I talking about vegetables instead of butter and sugar? Because I was in the mood of rambling. And because in one of the veggie drops this week was a bunch of lemon grass. Which I have never worked with. 

I didn’t have too many ideas of what to do. A lemon grass infused panna cotta seemed like a good idea – you guys know i love myself a good panna cotta. But that was put on the can-wait-until-later list when I had the thought of doing a drizzle cake. Or a syrup cake. 

I do like syrup cakes too. Granted they have a lot more sugar than their non soaked counterparts. But a good syrup takes a cake from snack to dessert without icing or fuss. And you can always balance the sugar with some citrus like in this lemon drizzle cake or  eggless orange semolina syrup cake. Or with spice like in this cake! 

Now we are finally talking about the butter and sugar! So this is a simple vanilla butter cake which is taken into an inter stellar dimension by the lemongrass and ginger syrup. If you would rather have an eggless cake , bake this eggless vanilla  recipe in a 6 inch pan or  if you are vegan , you can use this vegan vanilla cake as the base. The syrup is even simpler than the cake. Take some water. Add lemon grass. Add ginger. Add sugar. Boil. Simmer. Steep. SYRUP READY. 

Beware of pouring hot syrup over hot cake . i did that and a wee bit of my cake caved in front of my eyes ! Warm syrup. Warm cake . Thats the key to ultimate soakage !

The syrup – and eventually the cake –  has wonderful notes of spice and sweetness and  fragrance. And the drenched cake is so moist and scrumptious.

Lemongrass and ginger drizzle cake 

Ingrédients

For the cake :

• 115 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 100 grams or 1/2 cup sugar (granulated or castor )
• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 125 grams or 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the syrup :

• 240 ml or 1 cup water 
• 100 grams or 1/2 cup sugar 
• 4 stalks lemon grass 
• 10 inch long piece of ginger 

To make the cake :

• Preheat your oven to 180 c / 350 F . Butter and flour a 6 inch round pan. Line the bottom with parchment.
• In a bowl, whisk together flour , baking powder and salt. Keep aside.
• In another bowl , beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 
• Add the eggs , one by one , and beat well after adding each.
• Beat in the vanilla.
• Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. 
• Pour batter into pan and smooth the top. 
• Bake for 28 to 30 minutes until the cake springs back on pressing and a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes, unmould and cool for few minutes on a wire rack. 

To make the syrup:

• In a thick bottomed sauce pan , take the water and sugar.
• Peel and chop the lemon grass and ginger and add to the saucepan.
• Bring to a boil. 
• Simmer for 10 minutes or longer until thick and syruppy. 
• Taste and add more sugar if you need. Or if the flavour of lemon grass / ginger is too less , you can add more or just continue steeping longer.
• Take off heat and let cool until the cake is ready.

To finish :

• Once the cake and syrup both are warm ( and not hot ) , you can soak the cake.
• Place the wire rack (on which cake is cooling ) over a plate. The plate will collect the syrup that drips over as you pour over the edges. 
• Pour the syrup all over the cake . Once the cake is damp to touch , stop and let the cake rest a while.
• After a few minutes , you can add more syrup (including the syrup collected in the plate ) to the cake. You can even skip this is you dont want a too syruppy cake. 
• Serve or let rest for a few hours and then serve !

Notes :

1. This is a small cake . You can bake the same cake in a 7 inch pan for a shorter cake and use same amount of syrup.
2. Recipe can be doubled and baked in a loaf pan too . 
3. The cake stays well refrigerated for upto 5 days, It can even be warmed in the microwave.
4. You can make the syrup ahead of time . Warm it up before use. Dont pour hot syrup on a hot cake or bits of cake will fall off. 
5. Reduce the amount of ginger if you dont want the syrup too spicy. 
6. My measuring cup is 240 ml 

 

Like all syrup and drizzle cakes, this cake tastes better if given a chance to rest and absorb. But if you are impatient like me, it packs a punch even when had right away. 

You will be knocked over for sure.