The Best Ginger Cake... EVER

I whipped up a batch of these to munch while ringing in the New Year, warming and sugary these hit the spot every time. Easy to make, these take around an hour from start to finish and can be made as cupcakes or a full cake. I'm currently all about individual portions of cake, like cupcakes as they are so easy to transport and even easier to eat!  This recipe is very moist and works well with gluten-free flour too. I tested this recipe on my wonderful friend Mhairi and in her words "OMFG! This is the best ginger cake ever" so get baking...

Ingredients:

For the cakes: 

200g self-raising flour

200g muscavado sugar 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

55g butter 

2 tsp ground ginger 

2 tbsp golden syrup 

240ml hot water 

1 egg

4 balls of ginger from a jar of ginger in syrup 

For the icing: 

55g butter 

220g icing sugar 

2 tbsp syrup from a jar of ginger in syrup

Crystallised ginger to decorate 

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c and pop the kettle on to boil. In a food processor, blitz the balls of ginger until they become paste-like. Take a large bowl and add the flour and butter, rub together to combine until it forms breadcrumb-like bits. Add in the other dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add in the ginger paste, golden syrup and egg and mix again. Slowly add the boiling hot water mixing gently all the time to ensure everything combines. 

I made 12 cupcakes with this recipe, placing cupcake cases in a muffin tray for less spillage but this also makes 2 6in cakes, ideal for an indulgent treat. Place around 4 tbsp of batter in each cupcake case and bake for roughly 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. This mixture is quite sloppy so do be careful popping it in the oven. Once the cakes are baked, take them out of the tray and place on a wire rack to cool.  

Take the food processor again, I don't tend to rinse mine as little bits of ginger in the icing add to the flavour, and whizz together the butter and icing sugar until little crumbs are formed. Slowly add in the syrup until the mixture resembles whipped cream. 

Once the cakes are cooled, spread them generously with icing and top them with a few lumps of crystallised ginger. 

When you make these please tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife, I would love to see your creations.