Stem Ginger Cake

A friend recently gave me Tom Aikens Cooking after a rather lovely lunch at his restaurant, Tom's Kitchen, on Cale Street. The book has a small but great baking section at the back. I've had some stem ginger lingering at the top of the cupboards crying out to the be used so went for this recipe. It was also the perfect chance to try out my new oh so cute mini loaf tins. This cake is so light and delicious I will make it again and again. I served it straight warm, straight from the oven, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a pudding during a visit from the in laws.

The Recipe

230g self-raising flour

1 tspn bicarbonate of soda

1 tbspn powdered ginger

1 tspn powdered cinnamon

1 tspn powdered allspice

110g unsalted butter, diced

110g black treacle

110g golden syrup

110g dark brown sugar

280ml milk

45g stem ginger, chopped

1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas 4. Grease and line a loaf tin (or use mini loaf tins as I did).

2. Sift the flour, bicarb and spices into a bowl. Add the butter and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. Melt the treacle and syrup in a small pan and leave to cool to room temp. In another pan melt the sugar in the milk, then add the stem ginger. Mix this into the flour, followed by the treacle an egg.

4. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.