GINGER GUINNESS CAKE

In recent years I have made a lot of cakes.  It all began with the charity cake stall for the BBC Children in Need appeal which we held at work for the first time more than ten years ago.  That’s when I started looking for new recipes.  Then I joined the Clandestine Cake Club and started my own branch of the CCC in France in 2014.  .

My hunger for new and interesting recipes grew and grew and since then I have made an awful lot of cake.  Some of them have been, frankly, awful, but occasionally up pops an absolute gem.  Like this one.

It comes from the Sainsbury’s baking recipe collection volume 2.  I have been unable to find the recipe anywhere on the internet so I can’t give a link to the original.  In the book it’s called a Ginger Stout Cake but as I used Guinness (the only stout available in our local supermarket in France), I have renamed it.  The other reason for renaming it is that it will be up there with my other very favourite cake to make for a birthday, cake stall or any other reason, the Chocolate Guinness Cake by Nigella Lawson.

I have written the recipe here as per the amendments I made to suit the ingredients I could get hold of.

The moment I cut into it I knew it was going to be good.  After the first mouthful I thought “wow!”.  Nick, who is not a great cake lover, thought it was wonderful, had two slices straight away and banned me from offering it to anyone else so that he could get his fair share of the rest, something previously unheard of.

The cake was moist, soft, deliciously spiced and strong on ginger flavour.  With the slightly glossy glaze from the ginger syrup and dotted with diced stem ginger, it looked classy and grown up and needed no other decoration.  I urge you to try it!

Ingredients.

200g unsalted butter

200ml Guinness (or other stout)

200g caster sugar

50g dark soft brown sugar

3 tbsp black treacle

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp mixed spice

2 large eggs

75ml natural yoghurt*

25ml milk*

300g self raising flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the topping

3 balls of preserved stem ginger, diced

3 dessert spoons syrup from the jar

Method

Put the Guinness, sugars, butter, treacle, ground ginger and mixed spice into a large saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted, without letting it boil.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°fan / gas mk 4.  Butter and line a 23cm round, deep springform cake tin**.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, yoghurt and milk, then pour the cooled sugar mixture into the bowl.  Sift in the flour and bicarb and, using an electric whisk, beat until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour until done.  The cake should lose its wobble in the middle but not be too firm.

Remove from the oven and whilst still warm drizzle over the ginger syrup and dot with the diced ginger.  Cool in the tin and remove when cold.

(*The original recipe uses 100ml buttermilk but I substituted a mixture of yoghurt and milk.)

(**The original recipes uses a 20cm square tin and bakes the cake for 40-45 minutes.)

Cuts into 12-16 slices, but allow two slices each!