I often get inspired by watching alllllllll the baking shows, especially Great British Baking Show and the many versions of Baking Championship. As someone who loves to bake, how I can I not? They have all these cool techniques and interesting flavor combinations and often end up with results that are breathtaking and mind blowing.
The inspiration comes along with something else though. It’s along the lines of jealousy or perhaps just feelings of inadequacy. I’ve been baking pretty steadily for nearly twenty years and I’m not sure I could make any version of any showstopper on GBBS. That said if I don’t sometimes try and push myself, I’ll never know and I’ll never improve.
This is no showstopper to be sure, but it is pretty and unlike anything I’ve made before and the flavors are interesting and I made decorations. These decorations are inspired by something I saw on Halloween Baking Championship where one of the contestants used chocolate to pipe out some trees. I used carob powder and coconut oil to achieve the same similar results that are also effective for simple holiday decorations.
As for the flavors, I was craving gingerbread and felt inspired to make sticky toffee pudding, so I mashed them up and the results were fabulous. The cake is decadent, so rich you’d almost think it’s devil’s food, and has the nicest hint of holiday spice. It needs the cinnamon icing to cut through the richness.
Honestly, it’s one of those desserts that I wasn’t sure I liked after a bite, but then I ended up craving more and more of it until I fell head over heels for it. I have a feeling you will too.
Paleo Gingerbread Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Description
A decadent dessert worthy of the holidays that combines gingerbread with rich molasses and sticky toffee pudding with sweet dates.
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup dates, pitted
1 cup coffee
½ cup coconut oil, room temperature
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup blackstrap molasses
¼ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup coconut sugar
3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla bean powder
2 large eggs
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
Soak
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
Peel from one orange
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
Frosting
¾ cup coconut butter
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
Trees
¼ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup carob or cocoa powder
Instructions
Make the cake. preheat oven to 350 degrees F, 325 degrees F convection. Oil a 9 inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Place the dates and the coffee in a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Remove and cover, allowing to steep while you make the batter.
In a large bowl, beat the oils, molasses, syrup, and coconut sugar until light and fluffy, using a hand or stand mixer or a whisk. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in half the flour, followed by the milk, and then stir in the remaining flour, along with the baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and espresso powder. Mush the dates up (hands are kind of the best tool for this job) and add to the batter.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake 40-50 minutes until puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs – it’s a dense and almost slightly gooey cake, so it won’t be clean.
Make the syrup. Heat the syrup, orange peel, cinnamon, and vanilla in the microwave for about 30 seconds until hot and fragrant. Spoon over the hot cake and allow to cool completely.
While the cake cools, make the trees. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave and stir in the carob or cocoa powder. Spoon mixture into a piping or Ziploc bag, cut off the tip, and draw designs of your choice onto parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator to set.
Once the cake is cool, make the icing. Place all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted. If icing is too thick, add more milk or juice. If it is too thin, add a little more coconut butter.
Carefully remove cake from the pan, place on serving tray of choice, and spoon icing over top. Decorate with your trees, slice, and serve. Cake may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or frozen, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature about 1 hour or in the microwave about 1 minute.
Notes
Recipe adapted from The Kitchn
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
That dessert just looks decadent! The flavors sounds so amazing. Keep watching those shows because they give you great ideas!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Debbie!