Ginger

Here’s the truth. I don’t really like ginger cake. I don't really like ginger tea or even crystallized ginger which I seemed to receive every year for Christmas from a distant Auntie. But this ginger cake has won me over. It's great to serve with strong afternoon tea and our recent guests have enjoyed a slice whilst checking in.

All in all this isn’t really a difficult recipe and if you love ginger it’s a winner. What you need: 100g butter 100g dark muscavado sugar 2tbsp golden syrup 75g honey 100g black treacle Grated zest 1 orange 150g self-raising flour 2 tsp ground ginger 1tsp mixed spice 1tsp ground cinnamon 1/2tsp ground cloves 3 balls preserved ginger, chopped (reserve 2tbsp of syrup) 2 eggs 5 tbsp milk For the glaze: 3 tbsp apricot jam 1 1/2 tbsp honey Method 1)Preheat the oven to 160C. Put the butter, sugar, syrup, honey, treacle and orange zest into a saucepan over a medium heat and cook until melted. Stir well, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 2) Put the flour in a mixing bowl and add the ground ginger, mixed spice, cinnamon, cloves, and two thirds of the chopped ginger. Mix together. 3) Add the cooled melted mixture and stir well. Next, crack in the eggs and pour in the milk. Stir thoroughly and spoon the mixture into a greased loaf tin. Bake for 1 hour. 4) Take out of the oven and tip onto a cooling rack. Put the apricot jam, honey, syrup and remaining chopped ginger into a saucepan. Heat on a low heat until it starts to bubble. Pour over the cake if not ridiculously obsessed with cleaning. Or in my case, brush over the cake with a pastry brush. 5) Enjoy the cake when it’s still warm.