It's winter in Sydney - the season for cosy cakes. The sort to have with a cup of tea, eat with your fingers, and crumb up your jumper. Ginger is a relatively new favourite flavour of mine. I'd always thought of it as old-fashioned, but now that's exactly what appeals to me about it. This is a very plain cake (it's brown, unadorned with icing or decoration) but contains hidden depths - three types of ginger, a delightful stickiness on its exterior, and a taste and texture perfect for pairing with a wedge of strong cheddar. The last one sounds odd I know, but the original recipe - by Scottish cookbook author Jess Elliott Dennison - recommended it as a serving suggestion, I tried it, and now I won't eat it any other way. As a bonus, this cake gets better with age (attractive as a make-ahead option), contains only one egg, and comes together in a single bowl (in this case, a saucepan).
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Sticky triple ginger cake
Adapted from a recipe in Lazy Baking by Jessica Elliott Dennison
When I was in in the UK last December, I purchased some preserved stem ginger in syrup for the express purpose of making this cake. Over there, you can find it easily at any supermarket. In Australia, it's a bit harder to lay your hands on. You can buy it online, or make your own - I haven't tried it but this recipe looks good. The quantities below make quite a large cake. I tend to halve the recipe (just mix the egg with a fork before adding half) and bake it in a small loaf (21cm/8.5 inch) tin. The cooking time, I've found, is about the same.
125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable, light olive, or rapeseed (canola) oil, plus 1 tbsp for greasing tin
225g (1 1/4 cups) soft dark brown sugar
85g black treacle
150g golden syrup
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
20g fresh ginger
3 pieces of preserved stem ginger in syrup
1 egg
300g (2 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
350ml (1 1/2 cups) milk
Preheat the oven to 160 deg C / 350 deg F. Grease and line a 23cm (9 inch) springform tin.
Combine oil, sugar, treacle, golden syrup and spices in a large saucepan and heat on low, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, til the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
While oil mixture is cooling, finely grate into it the fresh ginger (no need to peel), finely chop the stem ginger and add that in too, then stir to combine. By now the mixture should be cool enough to dip your finger in. If not, wait a little longer, then crack in the egg and stir to combine (if you do this when the mixture is too hot it will scramble).
Mix in one quarter of the flour, and the baking powder. Continue to stir in the remaining flour (in the one direction to avoid lumps forming) and mix til smooth. Next, pour in one quarter of the milk to loosen the batter. Add the remaining milk, and stir through. The mixture may look too thin or like it's not coming together but just keep stirring til smooth.
Pour batter into the lined tin and bake in the preheated oven for one hour, or until firm to the touch. Cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack. Keeps well in an airtight container for up to five days.
