So Christmas has quickly sprung upon us as it always does, just as i was thinking about halloween cookies and grasshopper pie for thanksgiving, December arrived giving me no time for autumnal cooking and heading straight for the cinnamon.
Rachel came round one Sunday afternoon to partake in a spot of christmas baking to kick start the season to be oh so jolly. and boy did this cake make us jolly. The scents of cinnamon and ginger that filled the kitchen were better than any scented Muji candle and the cake was a complete success. I've only recently decided to give cupcakes a break and try more 'grown up' cakes, starting with a successful raspberry cake i made back in summer i learnt that cake baking didn't always mean soggy sponge and cake tin- grease ratio nightmares.
The recipe is easy, and gossip proof, we still managed to have a good catch up and pay attention to the sifting and the weighing.
Nigella's recipe suggests a regular lemon icing, made simply with icing sugar and water, however i am a massive fan of the cream cheese frosting, it gives more texture, it sets well and its quick to make rather than making regular icing which involves too much add a bit, stir a bit, oh balls i put to much water in, add more icing sugar etc etc. Rachel then stepped up the seasonal flavour a notch and suggested we add orange zest to the frosting. I always said Rachel was the brains out of the two of us.
The end result was like christmas day and finding your boyfriend actually bought you something in the right size aka: impressive surprise! It didn't stick to the tin, it was spongy and light, yet held together in a good sticky kinda way (the treacles are to thank for this obviously). Once it cooled i spread the cream cheese icing and cut it into perfect squares. This might be a bit filling for a christmas eve/day treat on top of mince pies and christmas cake but it was a perfect winter starter to get us in the mood!
Apologies for the low qual pics, it was dark by the time we had finished at 4pm and these needed to be snapped before they were scoffed- how to fix blurry pics taken on your 5 year old SLR? Instagram them within an inch of their lives, obvs.
Holly x
150g unsalted butter
125g dark muscovado sugar
200g golden syrup
200g black treacle
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (try not to drop the glass spice jar your mum has had since the 90's and brake the lid in the process. oops)
250ml milk
2 large eggs- beaten
1 teaspoon bicarb soda- dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water
300g plain flour
Roasting tin- we used a shallow tin about 30 x 20 x5- this made for a perfect rectangle loaf cake that could be cut into squares however you can use the mix for cupcakes or a deeper loaf just watch your cooking times and temp.
-Preheat oven to 170/ gas mark 3
-Melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup, treacle, grated ginger and cinnamon.
-Take off the heat then add the milk, eggs and bicarb soda in its water mix.
-Measure the flour in a bowl and add the wet ingredients, beating until well mixed- it will be VERY liquid batter but don't worry.
-pour into the greased and lined tin and bake for 3/4 to 1 hour until risen and firm. Its supposed to be slightly sticky and remember it will carry on cooking as it cools- i switched the oven off after 3/4 of an hour and after doing the stick test (Im so technical i know) and let it sit in the warm oven for about 15 mins as we made the icing. And made another cuppa.
We used a cream cheese frosting recipie from my primrose bakery cook book-
175g cream cheese (we used one tub of philly)
450g icing sugar
125g butter- softened
1 orange zest grated
Beat all the ingredients together with a mixer then try not to eat it on its own with a spoon (who am i kidding)
