The summer holidays are over: hurrah! Get those children back to school and out of their extra holiday classes. Let’s delight for a moment in the illusion that life will be peaceful now that autumn is here, and celebrate with a pleasant autumnal cake. My dad really loved ginger cakes, so my mum used to make them frequently – a black, sticky loaf that was sealed away for a few agonising days before it could be eaten. Unfortunately when my mum moved house, she threw away the book containing the recipe and I will forever be trying to find its equal. This is a very different version of ginger cake: it’s light, nutty, delicious and absolute bliss to devour.
Sticky Ginger Loaf
Ingredients:
200g ginger marmalade
175g unsalted butter, softened
175g light brown muscovado sugar
3 eggs
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
3 tsp ground ginger
75g walnut halves
Method:
1. Butter and line a loaf tin and preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Put all the ingredients except for the walnuts in a large bowl and beat together – using an electric whisk makes this considerably easier.
3. Fold in the walnuts – if you mix them with a pinch of flour first it should stop them sinking to the bottom of the cake as mine did.
4. Pour into the tin and level the top – it does rise a lot, so don’t overfill it. (I had enough batter left over for a couple of muffins too – bake them for 15-20 minutes.)
5. Bake for about 1 hour – cover with tin foil about half way through if it starts to blacken on top.
6. Stand on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then gently turn out and leave to cool completely.
Congratulations on surviving the summer! Hope you’re getting closer to finding your replica recipe! This batch looks good in the meantime!
Searching for the ideal ginger cake is a tough old job, but I’m battling on!