I make no secret of the fact I am crazy about the flavor of ginger. Ginger tea, ginger cookies, ginger cakes, in stir fries, candied . . . in short however it presents itself. I am having a love affair with ginger. Combine it with lemon however . . . and I am totally smitten, ensnared . . . lost forever. It is combination I find very hard to resist.
This cake is amazing. At first glance, it looks quite unremarkable, except for that glistening surface, which catches your attention aand demands a closer look . . .
You cut a slice and the first thing you notice is . . . it's incredibly moist, almost damp . . . and yet at the same time it is thoroughly cooked . . . and the smell . . .
The smell is totally and utterly amazing. Not only when it is baking . . . but after it comes out of the oven. The smell alone begs you to cut into it and imbibe.
Look at that moist and tender crumb. Quite unsual in a cake which contains whole wheat flour. Most cakes with whole wheat flour are very dense. This is not. It is tender and light and oh so moist . . .
This is partially due to the addition of dark muscovado sugar to the batter, and oodles of golden syrup with it's caramel-like qualities . . . and then there is that lemon/butter/sugar glaze that gets soaked into the cake after baking . . . down from the top and up from the bottom . . .
I topped it with whipped cream to serve. Oh boy, did this go down a real treat. With lots of snappy ginger flavours, a terrifically moist crumb, a hint of buttery lemon drizzle in the topping and then the whipped cream. Boy oh boy. This was quite simply fabulous.
Adapted from a recipe found in a cookery book entitled, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, for a cake called English Gingerbread. I added a few more spices to the mix, because I like my gingerbread spicy. You are going to love this. If you don't, I'll eat my hat.
*Lemon Drizzle Gingerbread Cake*Serves 12 to 16Printable Recipe
A moist and spicy cake with sticky butter-lemon glaze.
113g butter (8 TBS)425g golden syrup (1 1/4 cups light corn syrup)60g dark brown muscovado sugar (1/4 cup, packed)40g orange marmalade (1 heaped tablespoon)2 large free range eggs160ml milk (2/3 cup)115g cake flour or unbleached all purpose flour ( 1 cup, sifted into the cup and leveled off)115g whole wheat flour (1 cup, minus 1 TBS, lightly spooned into cup)1 1/2 tsp baking powder1 tsp cinnamon1 tsp ground ginger1/2 tsp baking sodainch salt
For the drizzle:3 TBS sugar2 TBS lemon juice2 TBS butter
Butter an 8 by 2 inch square cake, or a 9 by 2 inch round cake and dust with flour, tapping out any excess. Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F. gas mark 3.
Stir together the butter, syrup, sugar and marmalade over low heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan, until melted and uniform in color. Cool to just warm to the touch. Whisk in the eggs and milk.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, soda and salt. Add the butter mixture, folding all together just until smooth and consistency of a thick soup. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 50 to 16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
While the cake is baking make the topping. Heat together all of the topping ingredients until the butter and sugar have both melted.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about ten minutes. Brush the syrup over the top of the cake. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and brush the bottom with the remainder of the syrup. Invert, top side up onto a cake plate. To make the cake extra moist, cover with some plastic cling film while the cake is still hot and leave to cool. Wrap up airtight and let sit overnight before cutting into squares to serve.
Note - a dollop of whipped cream on top would not go amiss. Just saying.
I added: 1/4 tsp each, ground cloves, ground cardamom and ground allspice.
Just add it when you whisk the dry ingredients together. Heavenly bliss.