Ginger golden syrup loaf
I made this gorgeous loaf ages ago, and then completely forgot to write the post about it! It comes from Rachel Allen’s ‘Cake‘ – a fabulous book which the Bakewell Cake that I made a few months ago came from too. If you’re a fan of ginger then you’ll love this – it didn’t last long in our house!
Ingredients (for a 900g/2lb loaf tin)
225g/8oz golden syrup
100g/3.5oz butter
100g/3.5oz caster sugar
75g/3oz stem ginger in syrup, chopped (plus 3 tbsp of syrup for the glaze)
200ml/7fl oz milk
2 eggs, beaten
225g/8oz self-raising flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Line the base and sides of the loaf tin with baking parchment, with the paper coming above the sides of the tin so that it can be lifted out easily later.
2. Place the golden syrup, butter and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a medium-low heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside and allow to cool, then mix in the ginger, milk and eggs.
3. Meanwhile, sift the remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
4. Tip the mixture – which will be quite runny – into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and drizzle or brush the reserved stem ginger syrup over the loaf while it’s still hot. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then lift the cake out of the tin and place on a wire rack. Peel away the baking parchment and leave to cool down fully.
6. Enjoy with a cuppa! 🙂
Newsletter sign up
Sign up to my newsletter, 'Take time out to be creative' - it only drops in your inbox once or twice a month, and is packed full of creative inspiration.
I have just seen Rachel make this cake on FoodTV and noted the recipe, but wondered: stem ginger is a little scarce in New Zealand, could I substitute crystallised ginger and make a ginger infused syrup to top?
Hi Helen! Yes, I’m sure you could do that. I’d say you’ll probably need to add a bit of ground ginger too – I have substituted stem ginger for crystallised in the past (in a different recipe) and what’s missing is the heat from the stem ginger. So if you add say a couple of teaspoons of ground ginger and some crystallised ginger, that would probably do the trick!
I just made this and it is so delicious – got a really good rise and so light and fluffy with enough mixing to get the air in! And the perfect ginger heat and sticky top using the stem ginger syrup – so simple.
Do you think brown muscovado sugar instead of caster would give it a smokier taste, or could that make the recipe not work? Not experienced enough a baker to know what the effects of this kind of substitution might make!
Thanks x
Hi Charlotte, sorry for taking ages to get back to you! The honest answer is that I don’t know 🙂 But I’ve used muscovado in things like flapjacks and crumbles and it has worked really well. If I were you, I’d just go for it and see what happens! xx