Things I have been cooking lately #114: Gingerbread loaf

It’s funny how and when cooking inspiration strikes. I got home from the gym the other night and one of our neighbours was baking something that smelled strongly of ginger. I’m not sure if it was ginger cookies, gingerbread men or a gingerbread loaf but it instantly made me crave gingerbread. So much so that I immediately went on the hunt for a recipe to make one. I didn’t have all the ingredients to hand so I had to wait a day but in the end I found the perfect recipe – light, rich and nice and sticky. It hit the spot not only for me but also Mr O and my colleagues who we shared it with.

Gingerbread loaf

Adapted from The Great British Bake Off

225 self raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of cloves
115g butter, chilled and cubed
115g treacle
115g golden syrup
115g dark brown sugar
275ml full fat milk
1 egg, beaten

Preheat your oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves together in a bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Pour the treacle and golden syrup into a small pan and heat gently until it is runny. Set aside to cool a little.

In another small pan add the sugar and the milk. Heat gently and story to melt the sugar. Set aside to cool a little.

Whisk the milk mixture into the flour mixture, followed by the treacle and the egg to make a smooth, thick batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Rest on a wire rack to cool completely before turning out. Wrap in foil and allow to get nice and sticky over a couple of days.

Makes one large loaf

11 Comments