Baking for Beginners: Ginger Cake

Warming, delicious and moist, this Ginger Cake is perfect autumn/winter fodder. A must-have cake to warm your cockles on a dark winter’s eve, it is lightly spiced and not too sweet. I whipped up this Ginger Cake for all the parents to gorge on at a kiddies Halloween Party and it went down a treat.

The recipe follows a similar technique to my Lemon and Coconut Polenta Cake, by pricking the cake all over and smothering in syrup to keep the moisture locked in. Surprisingly, this is not too sweet a cake, which means bigger slices all round!

You will need:

• 120g butter
• 165g golden syrup
• 275g flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 generous pinch of salt
• 240ml milk
• 2 egg’s, lightly beaten
• 100g glacé ginger, finely chopped

For the syrup

• 80g caster sugar
• 80 ml water
• 1 tsp ground ginger

For the Icing

• 300g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 1 tbsp water

Bake it!

• Preheat the oven to 170C and line a round baking tin with greaseproof baking paper (I used my 9in springform tin)
• In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and golden syrup on a low heat until melted and combined. Set aside to slightly cool.
• Using a large bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and pepper. 
• Next, stir in the sugar and salt followed by the milk and eggs. Mix until smooth.
• Slowly add the melted syrup-butter mixture to the large bowl, mixing continually.
• Fold in the chopped glacé ginger.
• Pour the mixture into the baking tin. Don’t be alarmed by how runny the mixture is. It will set as a wonderfully springy cake.
• Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes, depending on your oven. (Do not open the oven door before 45 minutes or it will sink.) The cake should be firm to touch.
• Allow to stand for 15 minutes before making the syrup
• In a small milkpan bring the ingredients to a simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then prick the cake all over with a fine skewer and pour the syrup over the cake. Allow to cool.
• Once the cake is cool, remove from the tin and place on a plate. Mix together the icing sugar, lemon juice and water until thick and smooth. Using a palette knife or the back of a spoon spread the icing carefully over the top of the cake maybe allowing a little bit to drip over the edges.
• Allow the icing to set before scoffing a large slice with a cup of your favourite warm beverage.