Equipment
Ingredients
Ginger Cake
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 3 g baking soda
- 4 g ground ginger
- 60 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 60 g brown sugar
- 60 g golden syrup
- 1 egg
- 10 g fresh ginger, finely grated
- 60 ml hot water
Rum-Macerated Mango
- 500 g fresh mango, peeled and diced
- 45 ml dark rum
- 15 ml lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 20 g caster sugar
Lime Chantilly Cream
- 200 ml heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 20 g icing sugar, sifted
- 3 g lime zest
- 5 g vanilla bean paste
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 687 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbohydrates
- 87 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 55 g
- Sodium
- 291 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 20 g
- Trans Fat
- 1 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 9 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 2 g
- Cholesterol
- 135 mg
- Potassium
- 376 mg
- Calcium
- 80 mg
- Iron
- 1.3 mg
- Magnesium
- 31 mg
- Phosphorus
- 120 mg
- Zinc
- 0.7 mg
- Vitamin A
- 396 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 47 mg
- Vitamin D
- 1.1 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 2.1 mg
- Vitamin K
- 8 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.2 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.10 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.23 mg
- Niacin
- 1.5 mg
- Folate
- 73 mcg
- Water
- 178 g
- Alcohol
- 4 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat the oven to 175C (350F). Grease and line a 20cm square baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and ground ginger until evenly distributed.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, gently simmer the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup until melted and completely smooth. Remove from heat.
Pour the warm butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the egg, freshly grated ginger, and hot water. Mix until a smooth, thin batter forms.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
While the cake bakes, combine the diced mango, dark rum, lime juice, and caster sugar in a bowl. Toss gently to coat and leave at room temperature to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
In a separate chilled mixing bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream, icing sugar, lime zest, and vanilla bean paste until soft, billowy peaks form. Be careful not to overwhip.
To serve, cut the warm ginger cake into cubes. Layer the cake pieces in serving glasses, spoon the macerated mangoes and their rum syrup over the top, and finish with a generous dollop of the lime Chantilly cream.
Chef's Notes
- For a non-alcoholic version, substitute the dark rum with equal parts unsweetened pineapple juice and a single drop of rum extract.
- Ensure your mangoes are fully ripe but still hold their shape; overly soft, fibrous mangoes will turn into a messy puree when tossed.
- Serving the ginger cake warm against the cold chantilly cream and room-temperature macerated mango creates a highly desirable temperature contrast.
- Using fresh, finely grated ginger alongside the ground ginger provides a complex, sharp warmth that cuts through the tropical sweetness of the fruit.
Storage
Refrigerator: 2 days — Store cake and cream separately from mango to maintain texture
Troubleshooting
Chantilly cream separates and turns grainy
Cause: Cream was whipped too long or at too high a speed, beginning to turn into butter
Fix: Gently fold in 1 to 2 tablespoons of unwhipped cold heavy cream until the mixture smooths out again
Prevention: Whip by hand or on medium speed, stopping frequently to check consistency once the whisk leaves tracks
Ginger cake is dry and crumbly
Cause: Overbaking or using too much flour
Fix: The rum syrup from the macerated mangoes will help hydrate the cake upon assembly
Prevention: Weigh flour carefully in grams and check the cake at the 20-minute mark
Cultural Context
This dessert draws heavy inspiration from the Caribbean islands, where dark rum, ginger, and fresh tropical fruits are foundational culinary staples. By deconstructing the heavy, traditional rum cake into a lighter fruit-forward application, it modernizes classic colonial-era flavor pairings into an elegant, balanced plated dish.
