Kim-Joy’s stem ginger and salted-caramel meringue creature cake

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4]. Grease and line the bases of the cake tine with baking paper. For the cake, add the butter, salt, sugar and treacle to a small pan. Stir over a low–medium heat until melted and combined. Mix the flour (or flour plus xanthan gum) and ground spices in a separate bowl. Heat the milk for a minute in the microwave until warm.
2. Pour the liquid sugar/butter mixture over the flour mixture, then stir quickly until smooth and combined. Add the chopped crystallized ginger and then the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the warm milk and mix until foamy. Pour this into the main mixture and mix with a balloon whisk until smooth and just combined. Immediately divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake tins. Bake for 25–35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
4. Meanwhile, make the salted caramel. Add 60ml water and the sugar to a saucepan. Stir occasionally over a low–medium heat until the sugar has fully dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring, turn the heat up and wait until the sugar turns an amber colour. You can gently swirl the pan to even out the colour. Measure out the double cream in a separate small bowl. When the sugar has turned a deep amber colour, remove the pan from the heat and add all the cream in one go. Stir continuously with a balloon whisk. The sauce will bubble up, so be careful! Return the pan to a low heat and continue stirring until you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle with salt to taste. It’s better to add too little salt than too much. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30–45 minutes. It will thicken as it cools.
5. When the cakes are baked, leave them to cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn out the cakes on to cooling racks. Peel off the baking paper.
6. While the cakes cool, make the cream cheese frosting. Chop the butter and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix using the whisk attachment until smooth and softened. Add half of the icing sugar and whisk until combined, then add the cream cheese along with the rest of the icing sugar and whisk until combined. Don’t overmix or the frosting will become too soft.
7. To assemble, place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread a generous amount of frosting over the top. Make the edges of the frosting thicker than the centre, so there’s a dip in the middle. Add a large dollop of salted caramel to the dip. Sandwich the second cake layer on top and spread more frosting and caramel on top. Decorate with meringue creatures, sandwiching smaller ones in the middle of the cake and placing larger ones on top.