Christmas is coming ! I know that it is only November and I completely agree that Christmas should not be thought about until at least the 1st December, but as every baker knows, sometimes Christmas does have to sneak in a little bit earlier, making mincemeat and the traditional Christmas cake all takes time to mature and should be traditionally made on stir up Sunday.
Dates for ‘Stir up Sunday’ seem to vary, but it is generally believed to be the last Sunday before Advent, which this year is the 30th November. If you need some inspiration for Christmas bakes, please take a look at my Christmas Section on this blog, you will find everything from Starters, Christmas Cake recipes to mincemeat recipes, some simple and quick, to the more complicated, you can pick and choose which recipes suit you.
However, if you do not go in for the traditional cake, many people do not like fruit cake, I am the only one in my house that does and I do wonder every year, is it worth going to all that effort just for me! Secretly though I do love the tradition and even though my Brood are all now grown up, I do like them coming into the kitchen to make a wish and also filling the house with gorgeous Christmas aromas can not help but get you into the seasonal mood.
So, the reason to why I am adding another ginger cake recipe to my blog…. this cake is Christmassy, smells like Christmas and my lot love it ! Dressed with icing sugar for snow, a cheeky naff reindeer and plastic fir trees you can not help but love this cakes kitsch vintage charm.
Another reason that I have added it is, it is extremely simple to bake and unlike the Nigella one on the blog its uses a fraction of the ingredients, so it is far cheaper to make and so much better as an every day bake, as you are more likely to have all the ingredients in stock. Its great as a quick bake before people pop round over the festive season, it will still fill your house with yummy Christmas baking aromas, but also lasts for a good few days in an airtight container. It also must be just a little bit healthier for you than the Nigella one, due to the fact there are not huge amounts of golden syrup and treacle in this recipe.
So, if you want a very naught rich ginger cake, with a frosting, please try the Nigella recipe https://www.gelsominascucina.com/2012/12/sticky-gorgeous-gingerbread-cake.html , but if you don’t have the ingredients, want something maybe a little bit healthier, but is still delicious and tastes of Christmas, why not try this light and fluffy ginger cake.
Buon natale and buon appetito.
115g butter
115g dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
4 tablespoons black treacle
2 large eggs
150mls milk
300g self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped very finely.
1 heaped tablespoon icing sugar
Grease and line an 8 inch tin.
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
Put the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle into a saucepan and heat until melted.
Mix the eggs and milk together.
Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the dry mixture to the saucepan of melted ingredients, then add the egg mixture and beat until you have a smooth batter. The recipe suggests using a wooden spoon for this, I poured everything into my food mixer and gave it a really good beating! Lastly add the stem ginger and beat well.
Pour into tin and cook for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins then pop onto a wire rack. When completely cool, sift icing sugar over the top.
Note : I used a pretty bundt tin, I thought this would make a lovely cake for Christmas, but please note that baking times may vary. Mine took between 25 to 30 minutes. So just keep an eye on it, as cooking times do vary from oven to oven. Another idea would be to bake it in a square tin, cut into large chunky squares and served to visitors with a hot chocolate or nice cup of tea, you can not fail to impress.
Comments (0)