A classic genoise sponge flavoured with ginger and lime. It's filled and iced with a delicious whipped chocolate ganache with light notes of ginger. A generous drizzle of lime curd finishes off this rather marvellous lime ginger cake. Makes a stunning celebration cake.
Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat then leave to cool a little.
90 g unsalted butter
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar using electric beaters on high speed for a good ten minutes until the mixture is thick, pale and tripled in volume.
6 large eggs, 180 g golden caster sugar
Sift in the flour, baking powder and ground ginger then fold into the eggs as gently as possible.
Pour the butter down one side of the bowl and fold in as gently as possible.
Gently stir in the crystallised ginger.
100 g crystallised ginger
Divide the mixture between two 20cm (8") silicone cake moulds or greased tins and bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 20 to 25 minutes. The cakes should be firm on top and a skewer inserted in the middle needs to come out more or less clean.
Syrup
Meanwhile, grate the lime zest into a small pan, then squeeze in the juice.
2 unwaxed limes
Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar had dissolved.
75 g golden caster sugar
Pour the syrup over the two cakes as soon as they're out of the oven. Then leave in the tins to cool.
Whipped Chocolate Ganache
Whilst the cake is baking, make a pot of ginger tea by cutting the ginger into slithers and pouring 50 ml of boiling water over the top. Leave to steep for a good 15 minutes.
2 cm knob root ginger
Chop the chocolate, then place in a heat proof bowl. Strain the tea over the chocolate. Suspend the bowl over a pan of hot, but not boiling water until the chocolate has melted. Give it a good stir.
100 g dark chocolate
Heat the cream until just about boiling. Add it to the melted chocolate, a third at a time. Stir hard after each addition until all is incorporated and smooth.
200 ml double cream (heavy cream)
Place in the fridge for an hour to firm up slightly.
Whisk with electric beaters on slow speed until soft peaks form.
Turn the cakes out of their moulds.
Spread about a third of the ganache on the bottom of one of the cakes, then place the bottom half of the other on top.
Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining ganache.
Drizzle the lime curd over the top of the ganache in a criss cross pattern.
3-4 tbsp lime curd
Notes
If time is of the essence and you want to be super efficient, make the whipped chocolate ganache first. Then you can make the cake whilst the ganache is firming up in the fridge.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.