Candied Ginger-Honey Cake with Lemon Frosting

The flavors of ginger, honey, and lemon are soothing to the throat, the palate, and sometimes even the soul! It's always good to luxuriate in the extra warmth generated by these flavors. This cake was a special request from the husband who loves candied ginger, and all things lemony and sweet. 

The cake has a strong ginger flavor (along with crunchy bites of ginger candy), and the frosting delivers a lemony zing. 

I was quite stingy with the frosting - focused more on the lemon flavors than the butter and sugar (at least I tried, much to my husband's disapproval for cutting out the butter!). So adjust the frosting to your liking - make it a full blown buttercream, or keep it simple with just a drizzle of lemon juice (sweetened with honey).

Ingredients:

1. 1.25 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1/4 cup honey
5. 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger / candied ginger
6. 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
7. 1 teaspoon ground ginger (powder)
8. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1 egg, at room temperature
10. 1/2 cup yogurt

Lemon Frosting: 

1. 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2. 1/3 cup powdered sugar
3. 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
4. 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan
2. Mix dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, and ground ginger (powder)
3. Cream butter until soft.
4. Add sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy. Add honey and beat until mixed
5. Add egg and beat until mixed
6. Add the crystallized ginger and grated ginger and mix until combined
7. Add half the yogurt and mix with a spatula
8. Add half the dry ingredients mixture and mix with a spatula
9. Add remaining yogurt and mix with a spatula
10. Add remaining dry ingredients and gently mix with a spatula until combined
11. Transfer to prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean
12. Cool pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Then loosen the edges and remove the springform attachment. Cool to room temperature
13. Prepare frosting:
1. Cream butter and sugar, along with lemon zest and lemon juice. Add more lemon juice if needed to get frosting to desired consistency. 
2. As you can see from the pictures, my frosting was more of a drizzle, because I wanted more lemon juice to flavor the cake. 
3. Slather on cake
14. Serve!