#130 A very Lovely Ginger cake...

Ft. optional extras... butterscotch sauce or whipped cream cheese frosting

Hey Friends, how are we?

Listen, I know it’s against the moral writing code to kick off with grumpiness*, but let’s face it, it’s me, I’m a rebel, and I need to offload so here I go…
*I’m also confident I can turn this around after a brief moan, so bear with.

There are some very unlovable aspects of life – like paper cuts, emptying the dishwasher, stubbing your toe (one should also keep shins, noses and elbows away from anything hard), someone eating your last crisp/chip (any crispy potato product), hair washes, washing in general, extracting the seeds from cardamom pods (and chillis and peppers), packing (to go anywhere - top tip: don’t go anywhere = no packing, it’s a winning solution!), knocking stuff over, spilling stuff period… obviously this list is interminable.

But tell me, is there anything more hateful than your alarm screaming at you a whole 48 minutes before you need it to? And you subsequently, very diligently, doing exactly as it says, springing to life, getting up and being AWAKE! Folding the fleecy blanket, opening the blinds, making the bed, adding the ‘accessory’ pillows. It taking until this pillow-y moment to briefly acknowledge that it seems darker than it did at this time yesterday (strange), and remembering, after some internal debate, that it’s a Wednesday (the day you had to be up earlier last week), checking the clock on the wall (which is analogue and requires more brain power than you possess right now to establish the time) and devastatingly, crushingly, realising it’s 6:07am, that you mustn’t have switched off last week’s alarm, (only yourself to blame), and thus, that you could/SHOULD still be asleep and thoroughly enjoying that dream you were having.

And having acknowledged your error, how are you then supposed to respond to this situation? Get back into the made bed and pretend nothing happened (this would require making the bed again in - what is now - 43 minutes, which very much feels like you’d be adding salt to the wound), look at your phone (scroll mindlessly) – and enjoy some deliciously toxic blue light screen time, be nauseatingly positive, see this as an opportunity to ‘live more minutes of the day’ - ‘Carpe Diem’ as they say (eww), OR lie on the made bed, get cold and wait pointlessly, impatiently, angrily, for your next alarm to authorise your get up.

Obviously, I chose the latter when this scenario played out this week and, as you can tell, I’m still angry, and slightly traumatised by the whole experience.

Since I’ve kicked off this week full of positivity, I may as well continue in the same vein… I’ve decided that February is January’s ugly, two-faced sister. It pretends that it’s going to be better, that it will be brighter, more promising, show signs that the World is waking up after its hibernation, but it continues to punch you in the face with numbing temperatures, steely greyness and a sense that time is standing still. On that note, have you ever watched time counting down (e.g. on the microwave) and thought… ‘I’m literally watching my life evaporating’? I did this on Monday, and I honestly don’t recommend you try it.

Thankfully, I have an absolute FAILSAFE cure for grump-dom, an antidote to weather woes, some proper life affirming, undemanding goodness. Yes, my suggestion for dealing with life’s woes is ginger cake. They say ginger is medicinal, right?

If you’ve been with me here over the past few weeks, you will recall how this ginger cake journey started (accidentally sans sugar). You will also have caught a glimpse of it last week, with the sugar (better), and sporting a blanket of whippy ginger cream cheese frosting (superb).

Not completely satisfied that I had explored the full potential of this cake… I made it again this week. This time, I baked it in a different sized tin (I wanted to see how flexible it was to changes in environment - it’s v.compliant, by the way), and, recognising the need for warmth right now, I decided to sample it hot, drowned in a butterscotch sauce (a splash of brandy also joined the party), and a stream of cold cream. Now, I’m not exaggerating when I say this completely changed the face of this week, I did a happy dance to mark the occasion!

This unassuming cake will (potentially) be your saviour at a time when you really need it, it’s pulsating with warmth from the truck load of ginger, it’s sticky and soft but also fluffy and light, you can eat it neat (optionally, up a mountain), frost it, sauce it up, it keeps forever (ish, a week probs)… if you accidentally forgot to mark V-day, and your partner is mad at you, make this now, all will be forgiven. I’m even thinking that ginger haters could simply omit the gingery elements and proceed as per the recipe for a deliciously sticky, caramel-y situation - if anyone tests this, let me know how it turns out. Basically, it’s brilliant and I’m excited for you all to try it!
***There is one caveat to all this goodness and that is… if you’re anything like me, you might (probably will) end up sticking to the floor having prepared this beauty. I have been all week despite some maniacal cleaning efforts - how does sticky stuff always end up in places it shouldn’t be and subsequently linger for so long despite your best efforts to eliminate it? Boring!

Whilst we’re talking about good food stuff… I also recommend you make a pasta bake for the following reasons:

• You will feel V. productive, stand back and applaud… just me?

• If you are savvy and prepare more than you need, you will have some JOYOUS leftovers for days (freeze portions for next week, freezer gifts are the best).

• It will be wholesome and comforting and very good for you because all homemade stuff is thoroughly nourishing imo - something like this version in particular, although I would opt for a wholemeal or spelt pasta!

… so, add pasta bake to your menu this week, you will thank me.

Other notes from the week:

• Bread was made - in roll form, with malt flour, a touch of wholemeal, seeds, and accidentally way too much water, by some miracle, they were still magical. Simple seedy crackers also featured, so yum!

  

  Malt, wholemeal, seed... accidentally too much water, excellent hole-y crumb - YAY!

• Crumbs, offcuts, the dusty bits at the bottom of the packet, does anyone think these are truly elite? I have been known to empty a whole packet of something (Ryvita - is it very strange that I love these slabs of cardboard?, a big bag of crisps, packet of nuts) sift through to collect the crumbs, return the whole items to the packet, and revel in all the crumby glory I have painstakingly collected - perfect for snacking! Also, the cake crumbs that stick to the baking paper? Arguably the best bit (ginger cake really delivers here, btw) - I will never NOT scrape them off, usually with a palette knife for optimal removal, delicious.

  

  THE BEST CAKE CRUMBS are from ginger cake, and yes I made art out of my Olive oil cake crumb scrape-age... V.G!!

• … along these lines. I’ve thought a LOT about snacks this week, what are the best snacks? Are there specific times of day for sweet vs savoury snacks? I mean, is there an ethical snack code? I need to urgently make some high-quality snack material.

• I’ve also been thinking a lot about banana bread… in fact, I made one yesterday and I think it’s the most beautifully banana-y, cake-y situation I’ve made to date - dare I say wholesome too? Are we still banana bread mad or has that ship SAILED?

• I’m feeling weirdly at peace with my silly little cosy life at the moment, it’s not conventional, not ‘cool’, absolutely not earning me a fortune, I’m not trailblazing or pioneering… but it’s working for me. I’m doing what I love; baking, writing, researching, learning, in a space that’s safe for my head, I’m able to chat to you guys (my favourite), and it’s all quite magical really. Thank you, really, for being here with me.

• Have started (re)-reading Bridget Jones: ‘Mad About The Boy’ and have been giggling myself to sleep each night. Adore Helen Fielding, adore Bridge, can’t wait to see the film, amen.

• F1 fans, unite. The 2025 cars are being launched from next week, the following week is testing, the one after that, ‘Drive to Survive’, thrilling!

• A frittata is an excellent way of using up some leftover cheese. Obviously there are other ways of using up leftover cheese - shovelling it straight into your mouth might be my first suggestion - but I dug this idea out of my internal recipe archive this week and the result was a very agreeable dinner.

  

  Roasted pepper/courgette/toms, wilted spinach & Goats cheese frittata

• Celebrating blood oranges and olive oil… with a cake that feels a bit elaborate for this time of year, a bit more effort, a bit more time, a bit more risk? And so I’m not sure you will be up for the recipe but here is a teaser - a flooffy, light, olive oil chiffon, a super tangy blood orange curd - marmalade meets lemon curd vibes, and a whippy olive oil cream cheese frosting, v.good.

  

  Cake angles... also obsessed with the curd ooze!

• Echoing my friend Sophie’s sentiment this week, I really want to start incorporating more alternative flours into my bakes, for various reasons - environmental, health but also flavour, flour is SEASONING friends! If you fancy learning a bit more, this article is a great introductory insight into the ‘alternative flour’ World. I’m unlikely to be using these grains willy nilly/exclusively in bakes but it’s time to experiment a bit more me thinks!

• I’ve just learnt what TL;DR* means (obviously I had to Google it, is it just me that has NO idea what the majority of these modern-ish acronyms mean?), and, well… isn’t it a bit errr, rude? A little depressing? Sort of sad that our attention spans have become so short that we can’t be bothered to read a piece of writing? And then that we actually tell people this, bit harsh, no? (I’m laughing at myself, do I sound ancient?).
  On that note.. I’m wondering if you’re all screaming ‘TL;DR’ at me in reference to this tome and thus, it’s probably my cue to say farewell for another week.
  *If this is new to you too, it means: Too Long; Didn’t Read.

I do hope you are all doing ok? Surviving the gloom. Plodding, crawling, wading through winterness. As ever, I’m sending so much love and massive hugs, you’re all golden!

Steph X X X

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Ginger cake (naked, warm with butterscotch sauce, topped with whipped cream cheese)

I’ve already preached enough about this cake but just a bit more…

There are obviously thousands of cake varieties in the world, each with their own unique, sometimes a little niche, charm, however, some will always reign supreme. Obviously, we all have our own irrefutable cake hierarchies, formed from years of research, personal experience, memories, emotion. But I tend to think that the cream rises to the top, broadly speaking, we tend to agree about the icons of cake-dom, and I believe a good sticky ginger cake sits on a pedestal alongside the other big hitters: Vicky sponge, carrot cake, lemon drizzle, coffee and walnut, chocolate fudge, have I missed anyone?

So, having a solid (not literally), ginger cake in your back pocket is always useful, both for personal reasons and to charm your audience at any given time. As a self-appointed connoisseur of ginger cakes, and as someone who has tried many recipes over the years, I believe this is the one you need. It’s adapted from a recipe I found in an M&S recipe book from dinosaur days, although similar iterations appear all over the place so clearly it’s universally well-regarded. I’ve added my own little tweaks here and there - personalised it, ya know? It’s so easy to make, hard to get wrong (trust me, even omitting the sugar doesn’t destroy it, I can vouch for this), and, as mentioned above, can cover so many bases: on-the-go snack (yup), afternoon tea (check), dinner party dessert (absolutely), I really think you’re going to love it.

A couple of recipe notes:

• American friends, I’m so sorry, it contains golden syrup and I know you guys struggle to find this stuff… my advice? Don’t despair, I believe you can make your own although I’m yet to try it. This recipe could be your knight in shining armour!

• New oven stress - right, about my new NEFF oven… it’s baking/cooking things very quickly, so… I urge you to use your intuition a little over the bake time, I have stated exactly the time the cake takes (have also provided options re. tin size - useful), but you may find yours takes an extra 5 mins or so? Also, I would love to hear if anyone does find this to be the case?

Right, time to wrap yourself up in this cake blanket… X X X

It's art... poetry, heaven!

Also superb with frosting... or neat!