Rich ginger cake

 

Rich Ginger cake

Makes one cake

180g unsalted butter, softened

170g dark muscovado sugar

4 egg yolks, plus 8 egg whites

400g treacle

270g plain white flour

3 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground mace

½ tsp ground cloves

5 pieces of fresh ginger the size of your thumb, peeled and grated

5 pieces of crystallised ginger, grated, and 5 tsp of the adhering syrup

A shot of espresso coffee

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

250g sour cream

1 Line a 30cm springform tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas 2.

2 Beat the softened butter in a bowl. Add the muscovado sugar and beat for 4 minutes. On a gentle speed, add one egg yolk at a time until all are included.

3 Pour in the treacle. Tip in the flour, the spices, the fresh and crystallised gingers, and the ginger syrup. Mix deftly, but swiftly.

4 Now, add the coffee, then the baking powder and mix.

5 In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then add the caster sugar, beating all the while until peaked. Fold ⅓ of the egg white mix into the batter, then ⅓ of the sour cream, and continue thus until all is mixed swiftly and deftly.

6 Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Smooth the surface. Put the cake in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Check with a skewer inserted within for doneness. If longer is required then check every 5 minutes or so.

7 Cool the cake and store in an airtight container somewhere cool – for a fair few days, if possible, before deciding on whether to serve with custard, cream or ice-cream – or all three, perhaps.