mouths that love cake

Wherever you stand in the cake-vs-pie debate, it's a heated issue.
And then there's the even more complicated cup pie-vs-cupcake problem.

While you're contemplating, here is a cake recipe that could cause you to switch sides.
(From Claudia Fleming's The Last Course)

Ginger and Stout Cake

1 cup stout
1 cup molasses
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp cardamom
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a 9x5" loaf pan, bundt pan or cake pan.
In a saucepan, bring the stout and molasses to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the baking soda. Set Aside.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and oil together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, spices and baking powder.
Combine the stout mixture and the egg mixture, add this to the flour. Add the fresh ginger.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour. Cool and serve.

I served this with blood-orange sorbet, made by combining the the juice of blood oranges with lemon juice and simple syrup and processing it in my ice-cream maker. Very easy!