How to Make a Self-Saucing Gingerbread or Spice Cake

Question

I've been trying to figure out how to make a cake my mom made in the '60s. It was similar to gingerbread - one layer in an 8x8 pan. The unusual thing is that you could turn it out of the pan and it had a glaze in the bottom that would drip over the cake. I thought I had found the answer when I saw an episode of the Great British Baking Show in which they made self-saucing puddings. But when I tried making a recipe for that, the sauce had more of a gravy consistency than a glaze.
Mom's spice cake/gingerbread had something more like what is at the bottom of a pineapple upside down cake, but there was no fruit in it.
I will keep experimenting with the self-saucing pudding idea, but would love advice/input from others on this. Thank you!

Lynn Clark · Accepted Answer

Hi Linda - This sounds like a pudding cake, for sure. We have a recipe on the website for a Maple-Whisky Pudding Cake (baked in individual ramekins) but the cake doesn't get turned out - the glaze-y sauce starts at the top and ends up at the bottom of the ramekin.Two tips with this kind of cake - 1.) make sure to pour the sauce in and let it sit on top of the cake batter, don't stir! and 2.) don't over-bake the cake. If you do, the sauce becomes a bit thicker and isn't as distinct. Others here may have some ideas, but I think a search for a gingerbread pudding cake would probably yield a good starting point. You could then experiment with turning the cake out rather than leaving it in the pan as most recipes do. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

How to Make a Self-Saucing Gingerbread or Spice Cake

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