Ginger Cake

It’s no secret I love ginger.  Along with caramel and lemon, it rounds out my top three favourite flavours.   I love it in Chinese cuisine, I love it in sweet sticky Ginger Crunch and I love it in this cake.

My Mama used to make an incredible Ginger Loaf as I grew up.  It was hearty, full of bite and so satisfying with a thick slathering of butter.  She gave me that recipe when I left home and try as I might to recreate the magic of that loaf, I can not do it.

This ginger cake recipe was the first (of many) I have made from The Cooks Companion.  It is so so so good.  It’s not like the loaf at all, but it has become my replacement ginger fix.

It’s a straight forward recipe that I can whip up in a rush.  It is great as an afternoon tea cake, it’s amazing as a simple dessert and it’s ideal for the lunchbox.  It is also a cake which is perfectly suited to the change of season outdoors.  Ginger as a flavour is warm and comforting.  The inclusion of sour cream in this recipe provides a wonderful texture that I look forward to every time I take a bite – which is far too often if I don’t make it to share!

Ginger Cake
Ingredients
150 g plain flour
1 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 t freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
1 ½ t ground ginger
145 g unsalted butter
1 T plain flour
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C treacle
1 x 60 g egg
1/2 C sour cream
icing sugar to dust

Directions
Sift 150g flour with the baking powder, spices and salt.  Whisk together and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180°C.  Melt 20g of the butter, then brush a 20cm deep round cake tin with it.  Dust with 1-2 T flour and tap out the excess.
Dice the remaining butter and, then cream it with the brown sugar.  Add the treacle and mix until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and sour cream.
Add the flour and spice mix to the mixer in 3 lots and mix just enough to blend.
Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes.  Allow to stand for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with thick cream or icecream, or slice into thin wedges and eat at your leisure.

Source: slightly adapted from  The Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander