One of the best people I know taught me how to make books by ripping out the innards of second-hand ones with pretty covers and gluing in handmade ones stitched together with a special kind of waxed twine. I was never much good at it – my impatient nature doesn’t lend itself to such crafty pursuits unless they’re of the sort that look somewhat charming with ragged edges.
I have about six of them now, all filled with recipes I’ve collected from places I’ve worked, family, people I’ve met, their mums and the free recipe print-outs at Japanese supermarkets (they’re usually pretty good, before you say anything snarky).
Unfortunately I didn’t have the presence of mind to label where I got most of them but I do know the provenance of this one. It’s Delia Smith’s and I can’t describe it better than her so I quote verbatim: “In all my years of cooking, this is, quite simply, my favourite cake. It’s simple but absolute heaven. The spiciness of the ginger within the moist cake, coupled with the sharpness of the lemon icing, is such that it never fails to please all those who eat it.”
And so it does. Today I took the second half to a professional development course I attended and I was told it was just like one from a bakery. In Austria, high praise indeed.
Are you good at making things or sloppy too?
Preserved Ginger Cake with Lemon Icing, adapted slightly from Delia Smith
Even if you don’t like preserved ginger (I don’t) there are some recipes in which it adds the best parts of itself and the other ingredients somehow disappear the less appealing aspects. This is one of them. Somewhat fittingly, he of book-making fame loves ginger in all its forms, so this is for him.
For the cake
5 pieces of preserved stem ginger in syrup, minced
2 tablespoons ginger syrup (from the jar)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated (I used a microplane to get it really fine)
175 grams (1 1/2 sticks or 4/5 cup) butter, softened
175 grams (4/5 cup) golden caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon of molasses syrup (I used zuckerrubensirup which I think is sugar beet syrup because I can’t find molasses here but I’m sure honey or golden syrup would be fine too).
225 grams (1 4/5 cup) self-raising flour (I used cake flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground almonds
2 tablespoons milk
For the icing
225 grams icing sugar
Juice of one lemon
Grease a 15 x 25 cm (6 x 10 inch) loaf tin and put paper in the bottom.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celcius (340 Fahrenheit).
Cream the butter and sugar until light and beat in the eggs a little at a time until incorporated thoroughly.
Fold in the molasses and ginger syrup.
Sift the flour and ground ginger onto a plate and fold into the wet mixture in 4 lots.
Fold in the almonds and milk, and then the stem and grated fresh ginger. The batter will be quite thick.
Spread evenly in the tin and bake for 45-50 minutes or until pulling away from the sides and firm in the centre. Cool 10 minutes in the tin and turn it out onto a wire rack.
Don’t ice it until it’s totally cooled down. Mix the icing sugar and most of the lemon juice until it’s the thickness of thick cream and pour over – you might not need all the juice.
NB: This cake freezes well – just leave off the icing until you defrost it.
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Preserved stem ginger seems to be largely unavailable in the US…amazon has it for almost $10 a jar, but that’s about it. I ended up googling for recipes. Fun.
But this is the thing about food blogs (as well as various artsy craftsy blogs) for me. I love reading them (have several faves bookmarked, although this is the only one I have ever commented on), and end up feeling all inspired and vowing to go make something new, but then I leave the computer and somehow lose motivation. Ach, what to do…
I’ve never seen it here anywhere either except for the Asian shop where I bought it. I think it’s Fijian actually. It was about 3 euros – god knows what I’ll do with the rest of it…When I’m looking at blogs I always have a pen so I can make a shopping list for all the stuff I’ve bookmarked but if Mini-B won’t eat most of it, it seems a waste.
This cake looks delicious Sass. One bite, and I would most likely be forced to eat the entire cake!
Well doctor, as you know, ginger is very healthy, so that would probably be beneficial.
drool, drool, drool. all my favorite things. ginger. almonds. cake. and so cute too!
Gaaaaaah this looks so good sassles. Where the hell do i get preserved ginger in syrup though
I got it from an Asian store – it’s Fijian. But it’s not such a rare thing I think, you should definitely be able to get it in New Yawk…It’s quite popular in England too, so maybe an Anglophile shop? I mean, ground ginger, fresh ginger and preserved? You need to do dat.
This looks so good. And I am very sloppy when I cook. Everything is a huge mess. lol. I am not a strong cook, but I keep trying. Eventually, I will get better. I have really enjoyed reading through your blog.
Thanks for visiting Des!
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