Gingercake

    Another cold day (-13C in the morning, but now up to -6C), sunny but with a north wind strong enough to blow your socks off! So it was indoor activities again. First fitness class at the Senior's Centre, then home to make a pot of soup. I had some fennel bulb left over so roasted it with a carrot until quite tender. Then I chopped them and popped them in a pot of chicken broth with a healthy dash of turmeric, cooked them until tender and blitzed the mixture with my hand blender. A half cup of apple juice to thin it to the required consistency added a pleasant touch to the flavour. That and a cheese sandwich was my lunch and delicious it was.

    This afternoon I got down to making a gingercake to take to class this evening. This is a one pot recipe so no great amount of cleaning required after. But you do need a measuring scale in pounds and ounces. Here's the recipe:

4 oz. preserved ginger                      1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 oz. butter                                        4 tbsp. milk
3 oz. syrup                                        8 oz. flour
1 oz. molasses                                 1 tsp. ground ginger
4 oz. brown sugar                            1 egg and a pinch of salt

Put a pan on the scales and add the butter, sugar, syrup and molasses, weighing each ingredient as you add it to the pot.
 





Melt the contents of the pan on a low heat, being careful not to let it burn.

 



Meanwhile chop the ginger and add to the pot. When it is cool, add 3 tbsps. of milk and the egg. Mix well.



Sieve the flour,salt and ground ginger into the pot and mix well, then add the baking soda dissolved in 1 tbspn. milk.

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Turn into a small, buttered loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven until the centre is done. Use a skewer to test for doneness. I usually have to give it a further 15 minutes or so.

This is the recipe as I got it from my mother but I made a few changes today. I used more molasses as I was short of syrup, just made sure the total weight was the same. I added 1/2 tsp. of baking powder to the flour because the last time I made it, the cake was rather dense. Also I only had small eggs today so I used two. This is more like a rich bread than a cake so I cut it in slices. Because of its spicyness it is nice buttered and it's also nice with a slice of nippy cheddar cheese.