Thursday baking - rhubarb & ginger cake

As we bake our way through A Treasury of NZ Baking...

I decided to make this rhubarb & ginger cake as we had some home grown rhubarb in the fridge courtesy of Lois Lewis. Also, Becky, Anna & Daisy were coming round for morning tea, and this seemed like a morning tea kind of cake. And it was. The cake itself is quite nice and moist, but we all agreed it could have had a stronger ginger flavour. It was more of a loaf kind of a cake (if that makes sense), and Becky wisely suggested that it could be improved with a crumble type topping. All in all, not a bad cake but not outstanding, and certainly best enjoyed during the day with a cuppa. Here's the recipe;

Rhubarb & Ginger Cake - week eight (Margaret Brooker)

110g butter

110g dark brown sugar

110g golden syrup

225g standard flour

2 tsp ground ginger

2 eggs, beaten

85ml milk

1 tsp baking soda

350g rhubarb, cut into 1cm lengths

1 tbsp caster sugar

icing sugar to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line it with baking paper. Melt the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup over a low heat. Do not let the mixture boil. Remove from the heat and cool. Sift the flour, salt and ginger into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs and the melted butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, gradually draw the flour into the egg mixture and mix until smooth. Warm the milk, dissolve the baking soda in it, then stir it into the flour mixture. Toss the rhubarb pieces in the caster sugar and stir them into the flour mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve. The cake will keep well in an airtight container for 3-4 days.