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Sticky Ginger and Whisky Cake with Lime Drizzle is a fiery offering to your afternoon tea. Punchy with stem ginger, fresh ginger and ground ginger and infused with a spicy Scotch whisky this is a lovely warming cake.
We haven’t really had proper snow in London for a few years now so had yet to experience a proper snow day together as a family. This morning we had our usual morning wake up call of 5am from Cole who is really throwing himself into the Christmas spirit and joined us in bed with his manic renditions of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells. After a brief glance out of the bedroom window to catch a glimpse of the snow predicted I was disappointed to see a dark morning with only sheets of rain illuminated by the streetlamps. So we went back to bed, trying to convince Cole that it was still sleepytime. He agreed that he was very tired but continued to enthral us with his Christmas playlist for the next forty minutes.
During tea and toast in the kitchen the first snowflake started to fall and by the time we had pulled on boots, jumpers, hats and gloves the snow was thickly carpeting the urban landscape. Cole couldn’t get outside fast enough and immediately started rolling up snowballs to throw around the garden and decreed that snow was in fact his new snack of choice. The speed with which the snow arrived and settled was unbelievable. Just an hour before our street was a normal dank London morning, suddenly it looked like a scene from Frozen.
Unfortunately our frolics in the snow didn’t last long as I had a market to do. My in-laws were now stuck up in Ely with the snow so we didn’t have a Cole-sitter. Trying to set up a cake stall and warding off a choco-crazy toddler from said cakes is a very special challenge I urge all parents to enjoy. At least the market was moved inside the school so set up was quick and then Luke whisked Cole away for snow angel antics in the playground.
By the time I had finished at the market, the snow had turned to that slimy grey sludge which makes you remember why snow isn’t actually as cool as it promises as you slip and curse trying to carry glass cake stands, wooden signage and tables back to the car.
Thank goodness then that we could come back to the house, light the fire and enjoy a slice of this Sticky Ginger and Whisky Cake with Lime Drizzle that I had saved for us to share. This cake could not be coming to you at a better time. The three types of ginger used spark a sweet warmth, perfect for cold snowy days, not to mention the soul soothing blanket of scotch whisky nestled within. This cake is one of Luke’s top three of all the cakes on my cake stall. It is ultra moist and the zingy lime icing freshens up the cake and gives the dark depths of the sponge a lovely contrast.
I do love a good snow day and it was thrilling to be able to enjoy this one with Cole, may every wintry December day be punctuated at the end with this delightfully warming cake.
Sticky Ginger and Whisky Cake with Lime Drizzle {gluten-free}
Ingredients
- 100 g sweet rice flour
- 100 g teff flour
- 75 g oat flour
- 25 g tapioca flour
- 1½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1¼ teaspoons ground mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 150 g dark muscovado sugar
- 150 g black treacle
- 150 g golden syrup
- 300 ml whole milk
- 35 ml scotch whisky
- 80 g stem ginger chopped finely - 4 balls
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger - peeled and finely grated
- 2 eggs - lightly beaten
Lime Drizzle
- 150 g icing sugar
- 2 limes - zested
- juice of 1-2 limes
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 160°C and line and grease a deep 8 inch round cake tin.
- Sift together the flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and spices in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Put the sugar, treacle, syrup and milk into a medium saucepan and heat, gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved but turn off the heat when the mixture reaches just below boiling point.
- Add stem ginger and fresh ginger to flour mixture and whisk in until evenly dispersed, then pour in the treacle mix, then the whisky and combine. Finally beat in the eggs.
- Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Lime Drizzle
- Make the icing by beating together the zest and enough lime juice with the icing sugar until the icing is just pourable.
Hi! I really love how this recipe sounds! We’re not a gf house, so I have none of the flours in the recipe , as written. I’d like to swap the 300 g of gf flours for 300 g of plain flour.
Do you think the swap will work?
Thanks so much!
Hi Karen, I'm pretty sure the swap would work. However, I haven't tried the recipe with plain flour so I can't guarantee the results.