Sticky Moist Ginger Cake

A deliciously moist cake - surprisingly light too!

I woke up and I fancied ginger cake.  Strange thing to want - not for breakfast though I hasten to add.  I just fancied baking.  I hadn't been in a cake baking mood for a few weeks.  I guess waiting for Junior to be born put me off!

Anyway, new Chinese mothers are encouraged to eat ginger after the birth of a baby to dispel any wind in the body.  (I have no idea why and do as I'm told - to a degree!)  So with that in mind I thought of making a gingery cake.

I made a cake with dates once and it was lovely soft and moist and well....datey!  I thought that it'd be nice if it was flavoured with ginger.  Until now, I never got round to making it into a ginger cake.

Ginger & Date Cake

Ingredients
300ml water
200g pitted dates
60g butter softened
175g dark brown sugar (muscovado)
1 tbsp ginger syrup ( from jar)
1 tbs golden syrup
2 eggs
200g self raising flour
2 tsp ground ginger (* I would've liked a stronger ginger flavour so I'd probably add 1tbsp next time)
60g crystallised ginger
60g stem ginger in syrup (I used 3 blobs)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
- Preheat oven to gas 5.  Line tin with parchment.  (I used a 8" square tin).

- Boil water in a saucepan.  When water boils, remove from heat and add the dates.  Leave dates to soak for 10 minutes.

- Chop the crystallised and stem ginger into small pieces (about 1cm cubes), dust with a little of the flour to absorb some of the sticky syrup.  Leave to one side.

- Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream until smooth.
 
- Stir in the syrups and add the flour and ground ginger.  Mix well to combine.

- Break the eggs into the bowl one by one and stir well after each addition.  Stir the chopped ginger into the mixture.

- Add the vanilla extract to the date mixture.  Blend to a smooth pulpy consistency with a hand-held blender.

-  Add the bicarbonate of soda to the date mixture then pour into the flour batter.  Beat well to ensure well mixed.

- Pour into the lined pan and bake in oven immediately.  Bake for 35-40minutes until well risen and springy to the touch.  Remember to check the centre with a skewer to ensure the cake is cooked.  Leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool.  Delicious cold on own, or serve warm with  a drizzle of ginger syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.


I baked chocolate brownie for hubbs to take into work after his paternity leave and also some of this ginger cake.  One of his colleagues commented how he liked the ginger bits in the cake.  I personally would  have enjoyed a stronger ginger hit to the cake and will probably put 1-2tbs of ground ginger in next time.  I might increase the amount of crystallised and stem ginger in too.

See the juicy chucks of stem ginger and small pieces of crystallised ginger in the cake?