English High Tea Preserved Ginger Drizzle Cake

French Tart's Note:

If you like ginger & especially ginger cakes, this is the one for you! This is the most moist and delectable ginger cake I have ever tasted! An old friend of my Mum's gave the recipe to her and she passed it on to me - it is a bit like Chinese Whispers, much changed and adapted since my Mum's friend scibbled it on the back of a napkin over 20 years ago, but still a firm favourite! It is the definitive style of a typical English High Tea Cake........get out your prettiest cake stand and your best Tea Set. At Easter time, I often cyrstalise some violets from the garden and decorate the cake with them, it looks wonderful & very spring like! NB: The size of the tin is VERY important in order to achieve a deep, moist cake.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 1.0 Ginger ...

• 200 g butter , at room temperature, plus a little extra for greasing
• 175 g light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon black treacle or 1 tablespoon molasses
• 150 ml milk
• 2 large eggs , beaten at room temperature
• 4 pieces preserved ginger in syrup , chopped
• 300 g self-raising flour , sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot

Topping

• 1 lemon, juice of
• 225 g icing sugar
• 2 pieces preserved ginger in syrup
• 4 tablespoons ginger syrup (from jar of stem ginger in syrup)

Directions:

1. You will need a non-stick round cake tin measuring 8", at least 1"deep, and some silicone paper (parchment).
2. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 180C/350F/gas4.
3. First, prepare the cake tin by greasing lightly and lining it with the silicone paper: press it into the tin, folding the corners in to make it fit neatly – the paper should come up 1 inch above the edge.
4. To make the cake, in a large pan, gently melt the butter with the sugar, golden syrup & black treacle over a low to medium heat.
5. Cool briefly & stir in the milk.
6. Beat the eggs into the mixture & add the chopped stem ginger - mix well.
7. Sift in the flour into a bowl and combine thoroughly, then add the ground ginger, baking powder & freshly grated ginger root. Combine thoroughly.
8. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin & spread the cake mixture evenly in the cake tin.
9. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the cake is risen, springy and firm to touch in the centre.
10. Take the cake out of the oven & prick all over with a skewer or a toothpick; pour the ginger syrup over the cake, making sure it all sinks down into the holes.
11. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 60 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and make sure it is absolutely cold before you attempt to ice it.
12. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix with enough of the lemon juice to make a consistency of thick cream – you might not need all the lemon juice.
13. Now spread the icing over the top of the cake, and do not worry if it dribbles down the sides in places, as this looks quite attractive.
14. Cut the remaining ginger into 12 pieces & arrange around the edge of the cake so that when you cut it you will have 12 slices, each with a piece of ginger in the centre.
15. If you would like one or two of these cakes tucked away for a rainy day, they freeze beautifully – simply defrost and put the icing on half an hour before serving.

Reviews

[Bink223]

I found this recipe while looking for instructions for candying ginger. By the time I got back to it, I had a quart of candied ginger and a pint of syrup. I didn't have stem ginger or fresh ginger for this--I substituted 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger for the stem ginger, and added an extra teaspoon powdered ginger for the fresh. It was still wonderful. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

[Mme M]

What a wonderful cake! It was fun to make. In this recipe you melt butter, brown sugar, golden syrup (or Karo light) and treacle (or molasses) together, and that leaves a wonderful aroma. It reminded me of pulling molasses taffy when I was about 11, another pleasant experience. If you use a large saucepan, you could make most of the recipe right in the pot! Easy and exceptionally delicious! Go slowly adding liquid when making the topping.

[BarbryT]

This isn't really a 5; it's a 10- star recipe, and that's before I frost it! The house smelled wonderful while it was baking...and cooling. My nibbles around the corners (corners??) confirm the superb ginger flavor. I shall frost tomorrow and probably increase the rating. :-) Thanks, Karen. This cake is just simply outstanding.