Gingerbread Cake with Spiced Lemon Sauce

Happy New Year! I made this cake for New Year’s Eve dinner and it is possibly the best gingerbread I’ve ever had! After eating large meals and loads of treats for weeks, it was nice to have a fairly light pudding. The gingerbread cake is fluffy, moist, and very light, meaning that you can confidently serve generous portions. The lemon sauce is delicious, and can definitely be used with other flavours of cakes. I served the cake and sauce warm with vanilla ice cream. But, I was so busy serving the cake that I forgot to take decent pictures for the blog – oops! The recipe was slightly adapted from The English Kitchen’s version.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. grated frozen ginger
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups plain flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 fluid ounces molasses (or dark treacle)
4 fluid ounces golden syrup
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tbsp. butter, softened
3/4 cup packed soft dark brown sugar
1 large egg

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9 inch square baking tin and line with parchment paper.

Add the molasses and syrup to the boiling water along with the baking soda. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the egg with a fork, then beat it into the creamed mixture a little at a time.

Whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

On low speed, add the cooled syrup mix to the creamed mixture. Stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Pour into prepared tin.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until well risen and the top springs back when touched.

Spiced Lemon Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp. butter
grated lemon zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon

Instructions:

Whisk the sugar, nutmeg, salt, and cornstarch together in a saucepan. Slowly whisk in the boiling water. Cook until thickened, whisking constantly. Whisk in the butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Remove from heat and keep warm until ready to serve.