In the Philippines, ginger is both spice and medicine, often administered as salabat, a simple tea of fresh ginger root. Here, tea is transformed into tea cake. Arlyn Osborne, in a recipe from “Sugarcane: Sweet Recipes From My Half-Filipino Kitchen,” begins by brewing a much stronger tea than you would ever drink. The goal is to distill enough ginger to perfume and possess the cake's every crumb. When straining the tea, press forcefully and patiently, to extract as much of the ginger's life force as you can. (If you don't get half a cup's worth, add water.) More ginger follows, in powdered form, whisked into flour, and crystallized, to stud the top of the cake, after the glaze has run down the sides. Other ingredients play important roles — lemon with its streak of sun, honey mellow and deep, sour cream delivering reliable richness — but the soul of the cake is ginger. Ligaya Mishan
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Ligaya Mishan | 2024-08-27
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