This is a recipe I’ve used every Christmas for the past 5 years or more, it’s by Nigel Slater and I absolutely love it. It packs a substantial punch of ginger which you want in a ginger loaf and the plump juicy sultanas give a gorgeous hit of sweet and chewy throughout the bread. It’s not too sickly sweet either and works great just sliced up with a layer of creamy butter or served warm with simple vanilla icecream or my favourite, a big dollop of fresh custard. I make this loaf for my Dad every year, I tell him to let it sit for a few days as the flavours intensify but he cant resist a wee slice on Christmas day!
Ingredients
250g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
125g dark muscavado sugar
200g golden syrup
4 tbsp ginger syrup from the jar
125g butter
2 eggs
250mls milk
3 lumps of stem ginger, chopped
4 tbsp sultanas
8 x 8 inch deep square baking dish or 2 x 2lb loaf tins
Method
Grease and line your baking tin(s). Preheat oven to 180. Sift the flour, bicarb of soda, salt and spices into a large baking bowl. Meanwhile place the butter and syrups in a pot over a medium heat. Once melted, add the sugar, sultanas and chopped stem ginger to the mixture. Let it bubble for a few minutes, stirring frequently and then take off the heat and set aside. Break the eggs into a jug, add the milk and give it a little whisk to break up the eggs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients in the baking bowl. Pour in the syrup mixture and fold together with a large metal spoon. Add the egg and milk mixture and stir to combine leaving no traces of flour. Pour into cake tin or loaf tins (fill each tin about half way) and bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted comes out clean. Once removed from the oven and the bread is still warm, I like to pour a little more ginger syrup over the top to get that stickiness and glossiness. Scatter a few chopped ginger pieces over there too just to finish it off 🙂
Sharon Duffin Photography 