I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of Felicity Cloake’s “How to cook perfect…” series in the Guardian. This afternoon I’ve had a lovely time trying out her ginger cake. The recipe appeals to me because it doesn’t contain any black treacle. I’m eating a slice with my cup of tea as I write this.

I followed Felicity’s recipe precisely and I’m very pleased with it, but I think one could get away with using the all-in-one method for this; I’d mix all the ingredients together in my KitchenAid except for the fresh and crystallised ginger which I’d fold in at the end. I baked it in the baking oven with the rack on the floor. After 30 minutes I put a piece of baking parchment on top and also slid in the cold plain shelf to cool the oven down a little.  Total baking time: 50 minutes.

Felicity Cloake’s “Perfect” Ginger Cake

Ingredients

• 100g butter, plus extra to grease
• 100g dark muscovado sugar
• 175g self-raising flour
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 175g golden syrup
• 3 tbsp ginger wine
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 150g candied (crystallised) ginger, finely chopped
• 75g icing sugar
• 1 piece of stem ginger, to decorate

Method

• Grease and line a 23cm loaf tin
• Cream together the butter and sugar with a pinch of salt until fluffy
• Sift together the flour and ground ginger
• Pour in the golden syrup and 1 tbsp ginger wine and mix to combine
• Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, then gradually mix in the flour
• Stir through the fresh and crystallised ginger and spoon into the prepared tin
• Level the top and bake in the baking oven for about 50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
• Allow to cool in the tin
• When it’s completely cool make the icing by mixing together the icing sugar and remaining ginger wine and drizzle over the top of the cake. Slice the stem ginger thinly and arrange down the centre of the cake