Sit by the fire and devour these indulgent treats!
Ingredients
- 175 g butter
- 200 g golden syrup
- 200 g black treacle
- 125 g dark muscavado sugar
- 15 g finely grated ginger
- 2 tsp powdered ginger
- 0.5 tsp rose petals
- 0.25 nutmeg
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 pods green cardamom (seeds only)
- 200 g full-fat milk
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (dissolved in 2 tablespoons warmish water)
- 300 g self-raising flour
- 175 g bramley apples (peeled, cored, chopped and stewed in a tablespoon of water)
- 110 g stem ginger (finely chopped or blitzed)
Method
- First, preheat your oven to 170°C (Gas 3).
- Take a baking tray or ovenproof dish measuring about 30cm x 20cm x 5cm, line and butter it with baking parchment
- Next, take a heavy bottomed saucepan, place on a lowish heat, add the butter, muscavado sugar, syrup, treacle, fresh ginger, the spices mix and stir to combine.
- Stirring occasionally, cook until everything's melted and mixed together
- Then take the pan off the heat, add the milk, eggs and dissolved bicarbonate of soda water and stir to only just combine everything
- Next, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, then gently pour in the contents of the pan, beating the mixture until it's completely combined.
- Don't worry if it looks a little runny, it's all good!
- Fold in the apple puree and stem ginger.
- Pour the runny, gingery mix into your tray and bake for about 45–60 minutes until cooked.
- N.B. The mix is cooked when firm to the touch on top with still a little wobble in its body. If you stick a knitting needle into the centre of the 'cake', it should come out with some batter on it, not raw but just cooked.
- Pop the tin onto a wire rack and allow the gingerbread to cool in its tin before cutting or slicing, as you wish.
- Serve with lightly whipped cream or Grand Marnier cream…..beautiful, indulgent, decadent and differently gorgeous!
Arun's tips:
Make 5 times the recipe for the spice blend and store in an airtight container – to use in future recipes. Make a couple of batches of the gingerbread, it freezes perfectly.
Use the sponge as a base for a delicious trifle. This recipe works equally as well with Gluten Free flour for a coeliac friendly version.
