Gingerbread

My oven can be relied on to do one thing and that's be unreliable. If a recipe says "bake for 30 minutes" it's a guarantee that the bake time will be anything but 30 minutes. It doesn't matter if the oven is up to temperature or that it took 30 minutes last time. My oven is the king of inconsistency.

So, naturally, the first time I made this I shouldn't have trusted my oven, or the cake tester for that matter. They both lied. I tested it and then took it and went to turn it out of the tin and "splat!" runny cake mix all over the bench.

Of course, I reacted in the most mature way possible. I stamped and let out a large whine. Yeah, mature.

Normally I'd give up and just spend the rest of the day sulking but not this time. The oven was already hot, the recipe was simple to put together and I even had a spare loaf tin. As they say, Try and try again.

The second attempt was a success. The Cake/quickbread cooked all the way through - thankfully. I don't think I would have been able to handle another failure.

This is a really simple recipe but it's nice and comforting. It tastes like gingerbread but in loaf form which works well for me because I adore ginger. As it cooks it fills the house (well, my tiny house at least.) with the most wonderful smell. Definitely going to make this again!

Gingerbread

(from Delicious Magazine: Sweet)

100g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter
100g (3.5 oz) treacle
100g (3.5 oz) golden syrup
110g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
200g (2 cups) self-raising flour
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
2 eggs
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Grease and flour a 26cm x 7cm (10" x 3") loaf pan.

Place the butter, treacle, golden syrup, and sugar in a pan over medium heat. Stir to melt the butter and then set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour and spices into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.

Fold the slightly cooled syrup into the flour and then add the egg mixture. Stir to combine, then spoon or pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes and then turn out on to a wire rack. Serve warm with ricotta or butter.