Really sticky ginger cake

Being a confirmed meat-eater, Dave, who I used to live next door to, often complains that I put too many vegetarian recipes on the blog. But he approves whenever I feature sweet recipes and cakes, and I reckon he's going to cut me some slack for a while as he recently set me a challenge to recreate the flavour and texture of those sticky ginger cakes you buy in a foil packet and, after a few slightly unsatisfactory attempts, it seems that I eventually succeeded because he loved the final version. So Dave (and Linda, who I know will be tasked with making it), here's the recipe - and now I don't want to hear a word of complaint about vegetarian recipes for some time to come!!

I must admit, this gloriously sticky cake is a real taste of my childhood and is great served with a cuppa, or with custard as a dessert. Try and leave it at least 24 hours before you slice it as the flavours develop and it gets even more sticky once it's been in an airtight tin, wrapped in foil, for a day or two.

The golden syrup and treacle aren't easy to weigh but they don't have to be exactly 110g - just get them as close to that as possible.

Really sticky ginger cake

110g dark soft brown sugar
110g golden syrup
110 g black treacle
275ml semi-skimmed milk
220g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
110 g butter, chopped
one and a half tsp ground mixed spice
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 egg, beaten

Line a large metal loaf tin with baking parchment and set aside. Then gently melt the sugar, syrup and treacle and milk together in a small pan. Rub the butter into the flour, bicarb and spices until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the egg and the melted ingredients until well combined. You should now have a fairly loose batter (much runnier than a normal cake dough would be).

Pour into the loaf tin and bake at 180C (fan oven) for about 45-50 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin, before using the baking parchment to help you lift it out.

Makes about 12 slices

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