Sticky Ginger Cake – October Bake Off!

Well, my debut in Amy Lane’s Bake Off Club was a success – so much so I actually won this gorgeous cupcake book! Thank you Amy, I am slightly overwhelmed by the amount of gorgeous cakes in the book and how complicated they look… but having had a closer look it does look like they do explain things for dummies (me!) so I will be brave and have a try! I’ll let you know how it turns out…

Anyway, October’s Bake Off recipe is Sticky Ginger Cake – servable with custard, which sounded all very nice to me, especially at this time of year.

I really love cooking and baking, both of which I want to always keep improving at and trying new things. So I love it when I come across a new technique or ingredient that I’ve not used before. And, I must confess, I have never used stem ginger from a jar before making this cake – and wasn’t sure where to find it in the supermarket even (by the herbs and spices – not in the cake making section where I spent a good 10 minutes hunting!)

Anyway, this cake was enjoyable but simple to make – I was slightly nervous as I wasn’t sure how much my (slightly fussy) hubby liked ginger, and it seemed like quite a lot of ginger that went in! However, by the time the mixture was made a quick taste confirmed the ginger wasn’t overpowering and I was slightly more confident.

 Unfortunately, I was a little bit overgenerous with the amount of mixture I put in the loaf tin, and it came out looking like this:

Kind of like the elephant man in cake form!

However, all was not lost – after a bit of trimming it was looking a bit more acceptable. And, most importantly of all, it tasted GORGEOUS! Really moist and delicious, and, in case anyone was worried, not overpoweringly gingery!

So, thank you Amy for an excuse to try another delicious cake recipe, and may I just stress the slightly alarming appearance was entirely of my own making, and definitely not a fault in her recipe!