Honey Salabat Ginger Tea Cake

 Salabat -“ a simple tea of fresh ginger root, brought to a boil and left to steep until it relinquishes every drop of its restorative power.” Recently, in the New York Times magazine, a recipe appeared for a ginger honey salabat tea cake. Arlyn Osborne learned from her Philippine mother to rub salabat on a bruise so it would heal faster. She went on to experiment with baking and has written a book called Sugarcane Sweet Recipes from My Half-Filipino Kitchen.

This recipe was adapted by Ligaya Misha, however, I left out the glaze when I made it - I thought it might be too sweet for me. It is a moist delicious ginger cake, where the salabat is transformed into a ginger tea cake - I’ve left the glaze directions in as it sounds something many of my friends would enjoy. We just sliced it and ate it with some butter, like a banana bread.

Ingredients

For the cake

Cooking spray for spraying the pan

1/2 cup diced peeled fresh ginger

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

11/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup neutral oil ( canola or vegetable)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

Grated zest of l lemon - 1 tablespoon

1 tables spoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the glaze (optional)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

Heat the oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Grease a 9 by 5 loaf pan with spray and line with parchment paper so there is an overhang on both long sides.

Make the salabat (fresh ginger tea) in a small saucepan add 3/4 cup water the diced ginger and bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce to a very gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and let steep for 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve (I used a teas strainer), pressing with a rubber spatula, you should have 1/2 a cup, if not add water.

Prepare the cake in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cooled salabat, honey, oil, l sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and whisk until just combined. The batter will be loose and lumpy like pancake batter.

Scrape the batter into the loaf pan. Bake until golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean - about 1 hour.. Cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack set inside a foil-lined sheet pan (this will catch the glaze later if you are glazing) Using the parchment overhang as handles, lift the cake onto the wire rack. Discard the parchment and let the cake cool completely.

Make the glaze in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, honey lemon juice and 1 teaspoon water. Drizzle the glaze down the center of the cooled cake and spread outward, letting gravity pull long drips down the sides. Let the glaze set before slicing and serving.

 

You could also add as a garnish crystalized ginger on top. I don’t like crystalized ginger but it  certainly looks pretty.