Gingerbread With Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce

Reprinted with permission from America's Test Kitchen Menu Cookbook, copyright © 2011. By the Editors at America's Test Kitchen, Photography by Carl Tremblay, Keller + Keller, and Daniel J. van Ackere.

• Servings: Makes one 13 x 9 cake and 2 cups of sauce.

As noted by the authors:  "This cake has a potent yet well-balanced, spicy heat. If you’re sensitive to spice, reduce the amount of dried ginger to 2 tablespoons. Our favorite brand of stout is Guinness."

The Gingercake

2 1/4  cups (11 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup stout
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mild molasses
1 1/4 cups packed (83/4 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
3  large eggs
2/3  cup vegetable oil
1 1/2  tablespoons grated fresh ginger

2  pints vanilla ice cream
1  recipe Caramel Sauce (see below)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9?inch baking dish. Whisk flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pepper together in large bowl.
2. Bring stout to brief boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat (watch closely to preventing boiling over). Off heat, stir in baking soda (mixture will foam vigorously). When foaming subsides, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until dissolved and mixture has cooled.
3. Transfer stout mixture to large bowl. Whisk in eggs, oil, and grated ginger until combined. Whisk stout mixture into flour mixture in 3 additions, stirring vigorously until completely smooth after each addition.
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan and gently tap pan on counter to settle batter. Bake until top of cake is just firm to touch and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack, about 1 1/2 hours. (Cake can be held at room temperature for up to 8 hours.)
5. Cut cake into squares and serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

The Caramel Sauce

Be careful when stirring in the cream in step 2, because the hot mixture may splatter.

Makes 2 cups.

3/4  cup water
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Pour water into large saucepan and pour sugar into center of pan (don’t let sugar hit sides of pan). Gently stir sugar with clean spatula to wet it thoroughly. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring, until sugar has dissolved completely and liquid has faint golden color and registers 300 degrees, about 12 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until caramel has dark amber color and registers 350 F degrees, 3 to 5 minutes. Off heat, slowly whisk in cream until combined (mixture will bubble and steam vigorously).
3. Stir in vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Serve warm. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks; reheat in microwave, stirring often, until warm and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.)