I can’t stop eating this cake, I’ve had to put it into isolation in another room. I’m a sucker for anything containing lemon, and if you add in ginger and honey I’m in heaven. The smell alone is enough to make my mouth water.
The recipe is based, with her permission, on one in Hattie Ellis’s Spoonfuls of Honey (Pavilion Books 2014). Hers is hard to better, so all I’ve done is swap out Hattie’s flavouring of cardamom for a double hit of ginger. If you enjoy honey, check out the book for some great recipes and lots of info about bees and their role in nature.
The cake is a doddle to make although of course you will need flour – fingers crossed you’ve managed to source some. You will also need a loaf tin approx 25 x 12 x 6 cm.
Lemon, Ginger and Honey Cake
Ingredients:
125g butter (plus a pinch of salt if using unsalted), room temperature
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
225g self-raising flour (or plain flour + 2 level tsp baking powder), sifted
The zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon (or scrub under the tap)
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
5 pieces of stem ginger (the sort that comes in a jar of syrup)
For the drizzle:
The juice of 1 1/2 lemons
60g honey
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/ 375F/Gas Mark 6. Butter the loaf tin (see above).
Put the butter in a food processor and give it a whizz. Add the sugar (and salt, if using) and whizz again. Add 1 egg and whizz again, then half the flour, then the second egg and finally the rest of the flour, pulsing briefly after each addition. Alternatively, use an electric beater or cream with a wooden spoon.
Add the lemon zest and juice and the ground ginger and pulse to mix. Rinse the syrup off the stem ginger, drain and chop into small chunks, then stir through the cake mix.
Spoon into the prepared tin, level the top and give the tin a rap on the counter to settle the batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is risen and golden and and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the drizzle ingredients in a small pan and stir over a low heat until combined. Take the cake out of the tin and put it on a plate. Poke holes in it with a skewer and then gradually, a little at a time, pour over the honey and lemon syrup until it’s all absorbed.
Cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight tin for up to three days.
Yes! I’m going to make this today. I have flour, but only crystallised ginger. That’ll be OK, won’t it? I’m hoping ‘im indoors will decide it’s not for him, but I doubt it somehow.
Thanks, Margaret. Yes, you could use crystallised ginger. For myself, I’d be inclined to give it a quick soak in some hot water to get rid of the sugar crystals and plump it up a bit, but it’s up to you. Lx
Good suggestion! That way I get to raid the jar and sneak in the odd snack 😉
I love crystallised ginger. I could eat a whole jar.
Shhhh. I’ve got ti leave enough for the cake.
PS make two and have one each. It’s that good. 🙂
😉
Hi! Can I use margarine instead of butter?
Hi Claudia, yes, as long as it’s one you can bake with, obvs. All the best, Linda
Looks tasty 🙂
Thank you, Kate. Lx
I don’t have any ginger in syrup, just fresh. Is that going to be a problem? I’m with you on the lemon, ginger and honey! All favourites in my book. xxx K
Hi Karen, no, just leave it out. You won’t get the juicy nuggets of ginger but it’ll still taste fab. Lxxx
i do love a good lemony cake!
Me too, Sherry, always my first choice. Lx
You could call it a Cummings Cake. That is isolate it somewhere else. I despair for your politics at present. Very dangerous trends. At least you have cake like this to keep you in self consolation, if not isolation.
Wash your mouth out, I don’t want Cummings anywhere near my kitchen, thank you very much! It’s all acutely worrying and depressing. I am eating Consolation Cake in isolation. Take care and stay well. Lx
I see a gradual casualness here. All one can do is mind oneself and eat cake. Preferably fortified with vitamin D.
Yes, same here. We still have the drawbridge pulled up.
This cake is a keeper. Except we ate it in record time … Thank you!
Delighted that it went down so well and so quickly! Thank you, Margaret. Lx
I am with you, nothing better than a good lemony cake.
Thanks, Geri, definitely a favourite here. And thanks for the follow. Lx