November is one of my fav times of the year, its when you start to put warner clothes on, light candles and think about getting cosy. We have crept in to comfort food territory which is a dangerous thing, especially in the afternoon when you have a cup of tea to keep warm up and feel you need something to accompany it! Well lovely people I am here to oblige!
Dark chocolate ginger cake is one of my favs. I get the inspiration from growing up with lebkuchen and all the delicious german Christmas treats which are now available in Lidl and Aldi and most other supermarkets. When I was younger we relied on my grandmother to send over german care packages, stuffed with amazing treats which had to be savoured as they weren’t readily available, Most people had never tried any of the biscuits and cakes I looked forward to over the festive season.
So, ginger and chocolate are friends, they work really well together and in a cake like this you only want a small piece and you have had your fix. This would be great in a bonfire party situation too.
First of all preheat your oven to 170°C you don’t want it too hot as burnt ginger cake is just gross!
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons milk
75g black treacle
75g golden syrup
75g dark brown soft sugar
75g block butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
175g plain flour, sifted
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg, grated
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
100g of dark chocolate chips
200g of chocolate for covering the top once cooked.
50g white chocolate for flicking across
Method
I really recommend using those grease proof liners you can put in cake tins or line a tin with parchment paper, it makes things so much easier.
A tip I learnt with golden syrup or treacle, if it comes in a tin, is too plonk it in a bowl of boiled water before you start in order for it to be easier to handle.
place the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa into a large bowl with the milk – leave to one side. Now measure the black treacle, golden syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan with 75ml of water, heat and stir until its all gooey and melted – no boiling, it will caramelise and be gross.
Next add the syrup mixture to the flour and spices – I do this in my KitchenAid – you can do it by hand, but I am lazy!! When the mixture is smooth, beat in the egg a little at a time. Add in the chocolate chips.
Now pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on a lower shelf for 1¼–1½ hours until it’s well-risen and firm to the touch. Your house will smell amazing! Remove from oven. and place on a wire rack to cool.
Melt the 200g of dark chocolate, however you do, I generally do it in the microwave, if you do this keep checking after about 45 seconds as it can burn very quickly. do short bursts of 5 seconds thereafter, Once its mostly melted remove from the microwave the rest will melt on its own, give it a stir to encourage it! The other method is in a bowl over boiling water.
Once fully cool, and it has to be or the chocolate will just run off and not set, pour the chocolate, liberally over and leave to set. Once set you can use your white chocolate to flick over the top to make it look posh. Melt this chocolate in the same way but white chocolate is quicker to melt so stick in the microwave for 30 seconds and keep checking. Once melted, get your spoon and just drizzle over in a flick motion back and forth!
Cut into slices or squares depending on your tin shape and store in an air tight container.
