English High Tea Preserved Ginger Drizzle Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 200 g butter, at room temperature, plus a little extra for greasing
• 175 g light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon black treacle or 1 tablespoon molasses
• 150 ml milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten at room temperature
• 4 pieces preserved ginger in syrup, chopped
• 300 g self-raising flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 225 g icing sugar
• 2 pieces preserved ginger in syrup
• 4 tablespoons ginger syrup (from jar of stem ginger in syrup)

Recipe

• 1 you will need a non-stick round cake tin measuring 8", at least 1"deep, and some silicone paper (parchment).
• 2 pre-heat the oven to gas mark 180c/350f/gas4.
• 3 first, prepare the cake tin by greasing lightly and lining it with the silicone paper: press it into the tin, folding the corners in to make it fit neatly – the paper should come up 1 inch above the edge.
• 4 to make the cake, in a large pan, gently melt the butter with the sugar, golden syrup & black treacle over a low to medium heat.
• 5 cool briefly & stir in the milk.
• 6 beat the eggs into the mixture & add the chopped stem ginger - mix well.
• 7 sift in the flour into a bowl and combine thoroughly, then add the ground ginger, baking powder & freshly grated ginger root. combine thoroughly.
• 8 pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin & spread the cake mixture evenly in the cake tin.
• 9 bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the cake is risen, springy and firm to touch in the centre.
• 10 take the cake out of the oven & prick all over with a skewer or a toothpick; pour the ginger syrup over the cake, making sure it all sinks down into the holes.
• 11 leave the cake to cool in the tin for 60 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and make sure it is absolutely cold before you attempt to ice it.
• 12 for the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix with enough of the lemon juice to make a consistency of thick cream – you might not need all the lemon juice.
• 13 now spread the icing over the top of the cake, and do not worry if it dribbles down the sides in places, as this looks quite attractive.
• 14 cut the remaining ginger into 12 pieces & arrange around the edge of the cake so that when you cut it you will have 12 slices, each with a piece of ginger in the centre.
• 15 if you would like one or two of these cakes tucked away for a rainy day, they freeze beautifully – simply defrost and put the icing on half an hour before serving.