Sticky ginger cake

When it's cold and dark outside and we are well and truly into the swing of winter I love nothing more in the evenings than curling on the sofa with a blanket, a good book & a wedge of cake to make me all warm and fuzzy inside

My sticky ginger cake is perfect for this time of year as it's definitely sticky, moist and with the addition of both stem & ground ginger it's packed full of flavour & sure to warm you up from the inside .

To make an 8 inch round you will need :

8oz self raising flour
8 oz soft dark brown sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
4 medium eggs
8oz butter
4 -6 peices stem ginger chopped up
2 tsp ground ginger 
Stem ginger syrup ( from the jar that the stem ginger is in )

• Start by melting the sugar, butter, golden syrup and treacle in a pan on a low heat. You don't want to simmer or boil it at all. As soon as everything has melted take it off the heat and set aside to cool.

•Grease and line a loose bottom 8 inch round tin, and set aside. Separate the syrup from the jar of stem ginger and reserve for later.

•Preheat your oven to 160c, ( fan )Chop up the stem ginger and add into a bowl with the flour, eggs, ground ginger and all spice

• Add in the cooled butter mixture and whisk everything together for a minute or two until the mixture is light and fluffy & everything has combined evenly.

• Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in for 40-45 minutes. To check the cake is cooked use a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake to check- it should come our clean. Another way of ensuring it's cooked is the cake edges coming slightly away from the tin.

•Leave the cake to slightly cool, leaving it in the tin. When the cake is just warm to to the touch, carefully poke holes over the top of the cake and pour over the reserved ginger syrup.

• Let the cake cool completely and remove from the tin. If you can ( I couldn't) leave the cake in an airtight container over night or a whole day if you can as this will help the flavours develop further and result in a richer & stickier cake .. Serve with hot custard or just on it's own.. Either way it is scrumptious