Spiced Gingerbread Cake

This is an old recipe that has been updated to cope with modern sized cake tins and measures, Originally this recipe was for a 12″x8″ tin, however the only tins I had were 34cm x 24cm, when I looked in the shops I could not find any old sized cake tins, this recipe has been modified with this in mind.

This cake is best after 3 or more days, it gets stickier and the spices mellow. The cake freezes well, we cut the cake into 3, wrap with cling film and then foil and freeze. Once taken out of the freezer put into a air tight tin or tupperware and leave for a few days, open the foil and film and cut a delicious piece of cake.

 Ingredients

• 400g plain flour
• 2½ tbsp ground ginger (or according to taste – this makes for quite a hot cake)
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want it very hot)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp mace
• generous pinch ground cloves
• 200g butter
• 170g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 200g golden syrup
• 270g black treacle
• ½ jar stem ginger, drained, and very finely chopped (optional)
• 50g syrup from the jar of stem ginger (optional – replace with more golden syrup or honey if not using stem ginger)
• 337ml milk
• 1½ heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C – Gas 3. Line a 34x24cm tin with baking parchment (a straight-sided brownie tin would be perfect)
2. Sieve the flour into a large bowl along with the spices and mix lightly to combine.
3. Put the butter, sugar, syrups and treacle into a saucepan (to make it easier to spoon out the syrup and treacle, oil a spoon first – the syrup will then just slide off). Melt everything together over a gentle heat until the sugars have dissolved.
4. Add the stem ginger (if using) to the heated sugar mixture.
5. Whisk the milk and eggs and bicarbonate of soda together.
6. Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and whisk in the milk, bicarbonate of soda and eggs.
7. The bicarbonate in the milk will make the sugar mixture foam a bit.
8. Gradually add the contents of the saucepan to the flour in the large mixing bowl, making sure everything is well combined. You will end up with a very wet, pourable batter.
9. Bake in the oven for between 45 minutes and an hour. When the edges have pulled back slightly from the side of the tin and the gingerbread is springy to touch, it will be done.
10. Cool in the tin for half an hour and then turn out onto a wire rack. Once cold wrap and keep for a few days before eating – the gingerbread’s stickiness will develop an well as the spices mellowing as it matures
11. The Gingerbread freezes well, cover with cling film and foil.