Do you like treacle or not ?
My Gingerbread gets made in an oven roasting tin, because there's never enough otherwise.
Honestly the simplest version is just the Magic Mix souped up.
So, Magic Mix
4oz Self Raising flour (or use plain and add extra baking powder)
4oz of softened butter or use margarine
4oz of sugar
2 large (well if you have large, if not, just two eggs and if they're awful small add a splash of milk or a dollop of yoghurt)
2 level teaspoonsful of baking powder
Good pinch of salt
That's the basic mixture, that all goes into one bowl and you beat it really, really well.
It'll make two sponge cakes, it'll make a big batch of muffins or fairy cakes.
It you double bake the sponge it'll make rusks for trifle.
It'll make a quick fruit loaf too.
To make chocolate cake, just add cocoa powder and a splash of orange juice
To make a really good gingery cake, you need to add a mix of any kind of sugary syrup/treacle/honey instead of all sugar....don't use demerara, it stays too crunchy. Fine as a topping, but not in the mix.
The treacle adds a lot to the gingery fruity taste.
I put my bowl on the scales and add a couple of spoonsful of treacle...it's blooming hard to measure treacle, weighing it works
About two ounces is fine in this small cake. Just use sugar for the rest of the four ounces.
I buy good ground ginger, but if you have fresh then grate a bit about the size of a walnut and and squeeze it out, you don't want a lot of fibres in your cake.
If you have stem ginger, even if you're adding ginger juice or ground ginger, add a couple of the balls slivered up really finely.
I like my ginger cake gingery, so I add a couple of level teaspoonsful of ground ginger to the flour and baking powder and stir it through.
What really boosts the taste though is to add some ground black pepper. I don't add a lot, but a wee bit works so well with the ginger.
I add a handful of raisins, might peel and grate an apple if there's one looking like it's needing used, or a carrot. Not necessary, but it all adds.
I do think it needs the raisins though.
Anyway, all in one bowl, add a couple of tablespoonsful of milk or orange juice (diluting stuff is fine if it's what you have) beat really well, and scrape out into a baking tin.....or tins, or muffin cups.
I use the cake liners but when I make a double sized batch I just butter the roasting tin really well and give it a shake with some flour.
Level off the top and the cake goes into a 180˚C oven for oooh, maybe twenty five minutes/half an hour, something like that. If you're making muffins then twenty minutes is ample.
Everyone's oven's different. If your's is a fan oven, I'd watch it carefully though.
So, this is the easiest ginger bread/cake I know of. It's just a souped up Magic Mix, and it's quick and reliable, and if you're needing pudding in a hurry, this is the one
If you want fruit cake type, long lasting keeping ginger cake, I'll need to go and find the recipe book though.
You've put me in the notion for gingerbread
This recipe even works with gluten free flour, ground almonds and vegan margarine. Soya cream instead of the milk and eggs.
I really fancy treacly ginger nuts though....
and Himself says I'm not allowed to brew it anymore :sigh: