Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake

It’s not every day you’ll hear me say (or read me write, for that matter) that I would choose an almond cake over a lemon one: this delicious and very moist cake made me believe that ginger has found a better friend in nuts rather than in citrus.

This loaf cake did not rise and split in the center like I expected it to (and I’ve made it twice already), that is why I drizzled it with the icing – in the end it looked like snow. :)

Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so gorgeous Gingerbread

Cake:
1 ¼ cups (150g) cake flour*
¾ cup (75g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) dark molasses
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons water

Make the cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22.5x12.5x7.5cm (9x5x3in) loaf pan**.
Whisk together the cake flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Place butter in a large bowl and beat in medium speed until creamy. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition (scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally). Reduce the speed to low and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Remove half of the batter and transfer to a medium bowl. Stir the vanilla extract into one bowl and the molasses and spices into the other. Drop large dollops of both batters into the prepared pan. Using a paring knife or wooden skewer, swirl the batters together to get a marbled effect – do not overmix.tap the pan gently once or twice on the work surface to remove any air bubbles.
Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15-20 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.
Make the icing: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, gradually add the lemon juice and water and mix until desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** I made ¾ of the recipe above using a 20x9cm (8x3½ in)

Serves 6-8