After writing my first recipe book, Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter, my auntie Susan called me up and said that she was so proud of me, that she had just come across my grandma Betty’s recipe book, and that out of all in the family she thought it should go to me. I was very touched and also very excited when said recipe book arrived at my door. It has all my grandma’s cakes, pies and sauces, as well as some proper old-school cuttings from magazines in the early 60s. Now, Betty used to make an AMAZING ginger cake, really sticky and sweet and just like the Jamaican ginger cake you get in the shops (but nicer, of course, because it’s homemade). You can imagine my excitement when I found her recipe written in the book! Here it is.
Makes 1 large loaf
- 225 g (7½ oz) unbleached white
- self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 110 g (3½ oz) cold unsalted
- butter, cut into cubes
- 110 g (3½ oz) black treacle
- 110 g (3½ oz) golden syrup
- 110 g (3½ oz) light muscovado sugar
- 280 ml (9 fl oz) milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- vegetable oil, for greasing
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4. Grease and base line a 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin. Sift all the dry ingredients, except the sugar, into a large mixing bowl.
- Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Melt the treacle with the syrup in a saucepan over a medium heat and then leave to cool to blood temperature. Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in the milk in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring.
- Whisk the milk into the flour mixture and then whisk in the treacle mixture followed by the egg.
- When all is thoroughly combined, the mixture will be like a thin batter.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- During baking the mixture will rise, then sink.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin, then turn out and peel off the lining paper.
- Wrap in grease-proof paper and then foil and keep for a couple of days before slicing.
