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1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom of a buttered 9x2 round cake pan with parchment paper. Spray PAM onto paper.
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2
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set mixer to low speed and beat in all of the buttermilk, just until combined. Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing after each addition just until combined. Do not over-beat the batter.
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3
Spoon batter into cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden, about 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around edges of cake to loosen it from the pan. Invert onto rack then invert back onto a cake plate.
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4
While cake is baking, bring ale, water, sugar and ginger to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then continue to cook until reduced to about 1 cup (about 15 minutes).
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5
While syrup is simmering, place berries in a deep bowl. Pour hot syrup through a fine sieve onto the berries, then stir very gently to combine them. Make sure the berries are covered in the syrup. Let berries stand for at least 20 minutes, but no more than 2 hours before serving.
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6
To assemble: when cake is cooled, lightly pierce the outside edge of the cake with fork tines. Drizzle just a bit of the gingered syrup along the outside edge of the cake. Next, place soaked berries in the center of the cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream on top of the berries.
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7
Note: this cake can tend to be a little bit dry for my taste, so when I serve individual slices, I drizzle a bit more of the ginger syrup on the edge of the cake slice that doesn't have berries on it.
