Food

Southern Palate: A Festive Holiday Treat + Recipe

The holidays are here, and there’s no better way to spread cheer than with a sweet treat that warms both your heart and your taste buds. At Kiawah River, we’re embracing the season with Garden & Gun’s Gingerbread Snack Cake – a delightful dessert with hints of orange marmalade, sweet sorghum syrup and cozy spices.

Packed with festive flavor and refreshingly simple to make, this cake is the perfect addition to your holiday spread. Whether you’re hosting family and friends at Kiawah River or just treating yourself on a cold winter day, this cake delivers a comforting, seasonal flair. Its moist texture and perfectly balanced spices make it an instant crowd-pleaser and a recipe you’ll find yourself coming back to year after year.

So, preheat the oven, pour yourself a mug of something warm and get ready to bake a treat that will make your holiday season even sweeter!

Gingerbread Snack Cake
Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients
2¼ cups (11¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. table salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup room-temperature brewed coffee
¼ cup orange marmalade
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 oz.) sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup sweet sorghum syrup
½ cup vegetable oil

Preparation
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Whisk flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cocoa, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Whisk buttermilk, coffee, and marmalade in a second bowl until smooth.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and crystallized ginger and beat until smooth. Add sorghum syrup and oil and beat until uniform.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping down bowl as needed, and mix until just combined. Add buttermilk mixture and mix until smooth. Give batter a final stir by hand. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes (cake will spring back when touched and sides will begin to come away from pan).

Transfer pan to wire rack and let cake cool completely, about 3 hours. Cut into squares and serve.