Recipe Number One Hundred & Ninety Nine: Page 87
I've entered this wholemeal ginger cake into my Facebook Poll on numerous occasions and the poor thing has never been chosen. At school I was always picked last for sport teams so I couldn't help but feel sorry for it!! It was the ginger cake’s time to shine. I already had everything needed within the depths of the kitchen shelves so I was ready to make a start.
Before the baking could commence we first had to scuttle along to the hairdressers. Rather conveniently it is only a five minute walk away, so we didn't have far to go. This time it was Isaac's turn for a trim. He always wriggles and squirms as much as possible, so I'd tucked a biscuit into my bag as a bribe! As soon as Isaac realised where we were heading he started to utter “No...No” in panicky tones. Thankfully, once through the door, he relaxed and even sat beautifully on my lap. Funnily enough he didn't even attempt to eat the biscuit; this was probably for the best as it was soon smothered in hair! To make up for the ordeal we had a splash in the paddling pool on our return home. We even ventured to build a wonky sandcastle in the sandpit!
Once Isaac was in bed I padded into the kitchen to make a start on the ginger cake. I wasn't sure why I'd had to leave the butter to soften as it was about to be melted in a saucepan. Life moves in mysterious ways! I poured a large quantity of golden syrup into the pan to join the butter. As I was adding so much I tilted the tin and let it gush freely. This was a mistake as it gushed out a bit too freely and the whole lot nearly ended up in the pan. It took a while for me to spoon a substantial amount of sticky syrup back into the tin! I was surprised that granulated sugar was also to be included. This was surely going to be a very sweet ginger cake! After measuring in the sugar, I moved on to the marmalade. As I was using just one and a half tablespoons, I wasn't sure of the point of adding any at all! The last ingredient to make its way into the pan was some milk. I prayed we would have enough; I hadn't expected to require quite so much. Thank goodness I found a full bottle when I went to the fridge!
Now that everything was in the pan I put it over a very low heat and waited until the sugar and butter had melted. I took it from the heat to cool a little while I got on with sieving self-raising flour and spices into a clean mixing bowl. The wholemeal flour didn't need to be sieved so I simply stirred it in at the end. I broke a few eggs into a glass and gave them a light beating with a fork. After I'd finished I noticed tiny pieces of egg shell floating on the surface. I thought I'd be there forever fishing them all out, but I found that the fork picked them out surprisingly well!
I checked on the butter and syrup mixture; it was still scalding hot. I wanted to avoid lumpy flour so left it a little longer and got on with making myself a cucumber sandwich. I've loved cucumber sandwiches since I was tiny and they are still my favorite sandwich filling. Maybe that's why I love afternoon tea so much! The buttery mixture was still hot when I finally poured it into the bowl of flour and spices but I was bored of waiting and my lunch was calling me. I quickly added in the beaten eggs and then mixed the runny mixture together with a wooden spoon. Of course my flour went lumpy, so I had to rely on my little balloon whisk. After a few seconds of frantic whisking it became smooth. I was a bit concerned when the mixture started to bubble on the surface – what had I created!! I poured it into the lined traybake tin. On the way to the oven I nearly lost half of the mixture on the floor as it sloshed dangerously up the sides of the tin.
The ginger cake would need an hour and a half in the oven so I settled down to eat my lunch. As soon as my bottom had hit the sofa our cat decided she was desperate to go outside. Keen to avoid any nasty accidents, I hurried to the back door. I managed to step right into a pile of sand that had been walked in from the sand pit. I wasn't too bothered about the mess as it provides an excellent exfoliant. My feet have never been so soft!
After leaving a trail of sandy footprints back to the sofa, I was able to wolf down my lunch and then catch up with this blog. The smell wafting from the kitchen was glorious; a deliciously gingery scent. When I went to check on the cake I was saddened to see that it had burnt along one side. I would have to cut it off.
Once the cake was cold I could get on and ice it with a lemony icing. All that I needed to do for this was to combine lemon juice and icing sugar together. I haven't used icing sugar for a while and can't say I enjoyed revisiting it – such messy stuff! After smothering the worktop and floor with a fine dusting of sugar my icing was complete. I smothered the top of the cake with the thick icing. I decided against using the optional chopped stem ginger as decoration. I have scattered it over other ginger cakes from the Baking Bible but, personally, I don't like the way it looks! I decided to leave mine plain.
I was soon digging in and taking a large bite of cake. The flavours were surprisingly light. I could taste the ginger clearly but it was by no means overpowering. The texture was a little on the dry side due to being overcooked! Fortunately the yummy lemony icing helped moisten each mouthful. This is a lovely light ginger cake for those who don't want too much of a gingery kick!
I must of been leaning to one side when I took this picture!
