Its been a while since I did you a recipe blog, but I’m making up for that now. I know I’ve done ginger biscuits, but at the same time I’m sure gingerbread comes into the stories quite a lot.

As I was baking any last weekend, I decided that I would try a gingerbread, a sticky gingerbread in fact from a recipe book my mother has. We have used it throughout the years to make a wonderful honey cake, which everyone agrees with me, I’ve manged to perfect. However we’re not here to talk about the honey cake, but the ginger cake.

The book is simply called the Katie Stewart’s Cookbook and is a book I adore cooking from. This is the second time I’ve made this gingerbread and it it got very good results. A man came to do some work in our garden today and I let him have a slice  (or three) and he said it was amazing. I’m hoping that it gets the same reaction elsewhere.

So to make this cake you will need:

• 8oz or 225g of plain flour
• 1 level tablespoon bicarbonate soda
• 1/2 level teaspoon of salt
• 3 level teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 level teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  (I also added 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg as well)
• 3oz or 75g of white cooking fat – I used butter. Seemed to work as well
• 4oz or 100g of caster sugar
• 4oz, 100g or 2 rounded tablespoons of golden syrup
• 4oz, 100g or 2 rounded tablespoons of black treacle
• 2 eggs
• 5 tablespoons of milk
• 4oz or 100g sultanas (I didn’t use these. We don’t go much into dried fruit in things in our house– but you can add them if you wish!)

Now the method, I’m going to lay it out in simple bullet points for you.

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius or gas mark 4.
2. Grease a 7 inch (17.5 cm) square baking tin and line the base and two opposite sides with a strip of greased greaseproof paper long enough to overlap the sides.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and the nutmeg (if you’re copying me) into a mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Gently heat the cooking fat (or butter), sugar, golden syrup and treacle in a saucepan until the fat has melted, then blend together.
5. Allow to cool until the hand can be comfortingly held against the side of the pan.
6. Lightly mix the eggs and milk and stir into the melted mixture.
7. Add the mixture to the sifted flower and beat with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth. (Then stir in the Sultanas if you’re choosing to add them!)
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread level (This should happen naturally in the tin).
9. Place in the centre of a preheated oven and bake for 50 – 60 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch.
10. Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes.
11. Loosen unlined sides and, holding the paper ends, lift out cake and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Wrap cake in kitchen foil and store for 2 days before serving, or store for 1 week if you prefer a sticky gingerbread.

So there we are, that’s how to make the perfect gingerbread. Lots of people have tried this cake and loved it. If you have a big enough cake tin for bake it in, and the mixture is fairly shallow it might take less time to bake. Mine took half the time.

So here are some pictures of the baking of the cake. And a big Thank you to Katie Stewart and her cookbook for giving me this fabulous recipe. Let me know if you have a go!