Friday 13 September 2019

Sticky Midnight Gingerbread

I love the name of this: midnight gingerbread.  Sounds a bit magical to me.  And it certainly tastes a bit magical too.  This is a recipe from Ruby Tandoh's book Flavour Eat What You Love.  Now you know I love Ruby, my friends, so I was really hoping this would be a great recipe and happily it is.  Not too sweet, wonderfully spicy, moist and delicious.  This would be great to take to a big gathering of friends and/or family.  Or give some away to your neighbours, as I did:-)



be generous with the icing sugar


Serves 12, or many if cut into small slices:

ingredients:


225g. butter

225g. black treacle

225g. soft dark brown sugar

thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

3 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork

375g. plain flour

4 tbs cocoa powder

2 tbs ground ginger

4½ tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

375 mLs strong black tea, still hot

icing sugar, to dust the top


Method:


Line the bottom of a 20cm X 30cm X 3cm slice tray with baking paper, and lightly butter the sides

Melt the butter and treacle in a small saucepan, then tip into a large mixing bowl

Now stir in the brown sugar and grated ginger

Whisk in the eggs, then add the flour, cocoa, ground ginger, baking powder and salt and give it a really good whisking till smooth

Pour in the hot tea, and beat in really well

Whack the batter straight into the baking tin and into the oven @ 180C for 35-45 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake (Ruby says "more or less clean")

Let it cool right down, then swaddle like a baby in clingfilm and a tea-towel and put it away somewhere safe

And WAIT for 48 hours!

Then toss icing sugar very generously all over it, and slice it up

Store in an airtight container for up to a week


Notes:

After peeling the ginger, I ended up with about 35g., which was proclaimed "the perfect amount" by our houseguest Ms. MA



ingredients gathered


dry ingredients ready for whisking in 


strong hot black tea


luscious black treacle


whisk everything together till you get a smooth batter


after baking for close to 45 mins @180C


ready to slice up - yep I ate that wee corner already:-)


icing sugar strewn over, and ready to eat and/or gift 

There was a lot of cake, and only me and Mr P. to eat it, so I cut it up and gave heaps away.  We still had some a week later, and it was still in tip-top condition.  Of course, I kept it in an airtight container.  This really is a lovely, moist cake with a lovely flavour.  Good on ya' Ruby!





artwork © Sherry's Pickings

20 comments:

  1. I can't wait to try this recipe since I love gingerbread flavour. Yours looks moist, sticky and amazingly delicious, Sherry.

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  2. Love Ruby. Love gingerbread too. I had never made it until a few months ago and then ended up making it twice ina month. What was interesting was that stout was one of the ingredients and I used a different brand each time, the colour of the cake was different each time. I'll be giving this a go. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. aah ruby. she's a sweetie. this cake is delish i have to say, and the longer you leave it the better. Tho i probably won't make it in summer due to humidity and mould!

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  3. I love my gingerbread dark and sticky but I really hate having to wait to eat a cake when it says days not hours! Sounds like it is worth the wait though

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    1. hi johanna
      yes i know what you mean - 48 hours! but yes worth it...

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  4. Wow that's great that it lasts that long! I love anything with spices so no doubt I would adore this.

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  5. I love gingerbread — need to make it again when I get home. It’s been quite a long time. We used to eat it with applesauce, I don’t know why.

    best.... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. hi Mae
      this really is a cake that needs nothing with it, not even applesauce. interesting concept. i guess ginger and apples go well together, don't they?

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  6. Looks like my first comment the other day did not go through... anyways I love anything gingerbread! Your cake sounds perfect and topped with some whipping cream - delicious. We decorated gingerbread houses for 20 years (6 that I built and the kids got to decorate them), I probably have every cookie cutter, cake pan that is related to gingerbread. You know the boys and girls, houses, candy, etc. My huge holiday tree is full of gingerbread related ornaments that I have been collecting for a long time. As you say "cheers" to gingerbread :)

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    1. hi judi
      this is more of a light cake than the gingerbread you're thinking of, i would say. and truth to tell, it wouldn't go with cream. it is so light and spicy and needs nothing else:-) cheers S

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  7. I make a few varieties of gingerbread cake, very spicy - one is light and the other is heavy. We love whipping cream on top!

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  8. Gingerbread is my childhood favorite and I still ask to have for my birthdays. I love your recipe as it's quite different from mine. This one I'll plan to make before my next birthday. I'll just need to find black treacle as it's not common here at all. No worries though in the end I'll can always make make a batch. Thanks for this wonderful looking and I'm sure great tasting recipe.

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    1. Thanks ron. This is a nifty little recipe. Hope you like it. Cheers S

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  9. I love this name as well, Sherry! At first, I thought this would be a post about how you baked gingerbread at midnight. Haha. But who cares what time it's baked! Gingerbread has been a favorite of mine since, well, since forever. I'd gladly help polish off a batch of this!

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    Replies
    1. thanks david. Baking at midnight? now there's a funny thought...

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  10. 1. I wish you were my neighbor!
    2. I love that this has cocoa powder.
    3. Wait 48 hours?????!!!!! I don’t know if I can....

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    Replies
    1. oh david, you are too kind:-) i know what you mean; 48 hours was a killer...

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