How to Bake Sticky Spicy Sponge Cake

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Sticky Spicy Sponge Cake:

For the cake:

• 9 ¾ oz self-raising flour
• 7 fl oz semi-skimmed milk
• 4 ½ oz soft dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 4 ½ oz golden syrup
• 4 ½ oz black treacle
• 4 stem ginger balls in syrup, drained and roughly grated
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 ½ long red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 ½ oz unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

For the sauce:

• 7 fl oz double cream
• 2 1.2 oz unsalted butter
• 3 stem ginger balls in syrup, drained and thinly sliced into matchsticks
• 3 ½ oz soft dark brown sugar

For serving:

• Finely grated fresh lime zest
• Crème fraiche, chilled

Cooking instructions for Sticky Spicy Sponge Cake:

• Warm up your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spread a 4 ½ pint shallow baking dish with small knob of butter and set aside.
• Place the measured butter into a medium saucepan, along with treacle as well as sugar and pour in golden syrup.
• Cook them over slow flame, while stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and blends together to form a uniform mixture.
• Bring it to a simmer and continue to do so over moderately high heat for a minute, while stirring continuously; turn off the heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
• Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and stir in the ground spices, chili, grated ginger as well as soda bi-carb until well combined.
• Whisk in milk into the lukewarm syrupy mixture until they are mixed thoroughly and stir in the beaten eggs to mix well.
• Beat the mixture vigorously for a minute and fold it into the flour mixture until mixed thoroughly into a thick batter.
• Tip the mixture into a prepared dish and place it on the middle rack of the oven.
• Bake it for 40 minutes or until the cake puffs up and is baked through.
• To make the sticky toffee sauce, toss the ginger matchsticks into a pan and stir in cream, butter and sugar.
• Cook the mixture over slow flame, stirring regularly, until the sugar is dissolved.
• Simmer the sauce for half a minute, stirring continuously and remove from heat.
• Remove the cake from oven and drizzle the sauce all over it.
• Add a large dollop of crème fraiche on top and sprinkle the lime zest over it.
• Slice and serve.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons