Ginger Cake with Fruit Sauce

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Hello!  I’mback!  Wow, I can’t believe howlong I’ve been unplugged.  No oneever told me how all encompassing the end of senior year in high school is forparents!  My parents were nowherenear as busy with my graduation as Les and I were for our daughter’s! 
Between college visits, senior prom, senior dinner dance(which was prom with parents and really fun!), the last choir concert, baccalaureate mass, graduation and graduation party, we were pretty busy this spring.  My son also had a birthday week extravaganza, which includeda camping trip during the same time.  Add in a database change at work, I didn’t even open my laptop fordays on end.  Yeah, I know…blah,blah, blah.
I did continue to cook, and I have a couple vegan recipes toshare, but I knew I needed something special to get me back to blogging.  I made this cake years ago for abarbeque Les and I hosted for our dear friends Tom and Paula.  Les was trying some baby back ribs onhis new smoker, and I made a potato salad and this Ginger Cake with FruitSauce.  We pulled the ribs out ofthe smoker and served dinner.  Thesmell of dinner brought back memories of how my house smelled in highschool.  Unfortunately, my memoriesweren’t from delicious smells coming from the kitchen.  No, my memories were from my mother chainsmoking!
Dinner should never be reminiscent of a chain smoker’sashtray!  The ribs were too smoky,so needless to say we dined on potato salad and this delicious Ginger Cake withFruit Sauce.  Tom, being the sweet man he is, said the cakereminded him of a cake he had when he was younger.  A cake he remembered fondly.
I love the flavors of this cake.  Usually, ginger bread  reminds me of fall, but when pairedwith a peachy orange sauce, ginger cake is all about summer!
Now, I normally like to bake cakes from scratch, and I had thoughtsof using a scratch cake for this, but sometimes a doctored cake mix is exactlywhat is needed, so I have left the recipe as I made it 20 years ago.
This is a great cake for potlucks.  It can easily be baked in a 9X13 panand cut into squares to serve (skipping the cream cheese).  I’m thinking about adding this dessertto my 4^th of July menu.

Ginger Cake with Fruit SauceAdapted from Treasury of Barbeque Recipes Printable Recipe 2 packages (14.5 ounces each) Gingerbread cake mix1 ½ cups water6 fresh peaches, chopped (4 cups)4 ounces light (Neufchatel) cream cheese, softenedFruit Sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch rounds pans. In a medium bowl, mix together the water and the gingerbread mixes untilwell blended (about 2 minutes). Stir in peaches.  Pourbatter equally into prepared pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until atoothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes in the pans.  Remove from pans and cool on wireracks.  Once the cakes are cooled,spread on cake layer with cheese. Place second cake layer on top of the first layer, slice and servetopped with fruit sauce.
Fruit Sauce1 tablespoon cornstarch1 cup orange juice¼ cup honey2 tablespoons butter1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest3 fresh peaches, peeled and chopped3 fresh nectarines, chopped
In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch and orange juice,and then add the honey.  Bring the mixtureto a boil and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened,about 5 minutes.   Remove fromheat, and add the butter and orange zest. Mix until the butter has melted, and add the fruit.  Serve warm over Ginger Cake.