My experience with ginger was very limited before coming to the islands. The spicy root is used much more liberally here and it is everywhere. I decided very quickly that any root that created such beautiful flowers had to be explored more. It really is an acquired taste, so if you don’t love it like we do, please just omit it from this cake. For this recipe, I used homemade strawberry-ginger jelly (recipe follows), but any strawberry jelly will work. Vegan or dairy free versions of this cake could use flax eggs and a butter substitute for the frosting. This cake is better the next day, so make it in advance when you can. Aloha!

Quality loose Green Tea is wonderful with this dessert! Black, oolong or white teas also pair well. This month we are supporting breast cancer efforts and Republic of Tea’s sip for the cure Strawberry Hibiscus truly brings out the subtle strawberry flavor of this cake.

Cake:

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup mochiko (sweet rice flour)

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive

3 eggs

2 cups strawberry-ginger jelly

touch of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 and grease Bundt Pan

Combine all dry ingredients and set aside. In large bowl, combine eggs, jelly , oil and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined, don’t over mix. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 min, when tester comes out clean! Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 cup butter (lightly softened)

2 cups powdered sugar

touch of milk

Beat butter until smooth, gradually beat in sugar and milk until evenly combined. continue to beat until frosting becomes a little fluffy! Don’t hold back when frosting the cake. It seems like a lot of frosting, but the cake is not very sweet and it complement nicely. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Ginger Jelly

2 1/2 quarts strawberries

1 inch cube fresh ginger grated

5 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 box sure jell+ 1 cup hot water

Cook Strawberries,ginger, sugar and lemon juice to a rolling boil . Add pectin and water and continue to boil until it will boil even when stirred. Remove foam from top and pour into your favorite jelly jars. This makes about 6 8oz jars. Aloha!