Boozy Guinness Gingerbread

Nigella has not yet failed me with baking recipes and being a massive fan of the chocolate and guinness 'best cake I have ever eaten' cake I decided to try another guinness filled recipe - The guinness gingerbread.

It was moist and squidy with the guinness taste really coming through stronger the next day adding an unbelievable depth of flavour. It looks so simple with its glossy top (I guess due the amount of golden syrup in the recipe!) but the combo of tangy sour cream and warming winter spices of cloves, cinnamon and ginger combined with the black irish stout make the taste quite complex.

I served it with some clotted cream as a treat after dinner. It was just as tasty plain with a cup of coffee at work the next day though making it a great Monday afternoon pick me up, I think everyone around me agreed as it disappeared pretty quick. In a tuppaware box I think it would keep for a few days but I never managed to test this out.

The recipe is below and taken from Nigella's Kitchen, just a watch out (and something I have noticed with lots of really yummy cakes) is that it is a bit pricey compared to your regular fairy cake ingredients.

Guinness Gingerbread

Serves 24 (small squares) or 16 (generous rectangles)

Ingredients:

• 150g butter, plus some for greasing

• 300g golden syrup

• 200g dark muscovado sugar

• 250ml Guinness

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 300g plain flour

• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

• 300ml sour cream

• 2 eggs

• 1 x 23cm square baking tin or 1 x foil tray approx. 30 x 20 x 5cm

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees/gas mark 3. Line your square tin with foil and grease it, or grease your foil tray

2. Put the butter, syrup, muscovado sugar, Guinness, ginger, cinnamon and ground cloves into a pan and melt gently over a low heat.

3. Take off the heat and whisk in the flour and bicarb. You will need to be patient and whisk thoroughly to get rid of any lumps.

4. Whisk the sour cream and eggs together in a measuring jug and then beat into the gingerbread mixture in the sour cream and eggs, whisking again to get a smooth batter.

5. Pour this into your lined square tin, or into a barbecue-type foil tray (I used two separate tins, a lined pie tin and my 20cm round cake tin) and bake for about 45 minutes, when it’s ready it will be gleamingly risen at the centre, and coming away from the tin at the sides.

6. Let the gingerbread cool before cutting into slices or squares.

Nigella also mentions that it can be baked ahead up to a week, just wrap in baking parchment followed by a layer of cling film and pop in an airtight container and store in a cool place. Plus it can be frozen if you wrap in baking parchment and a double layer of foil for up to three months. defrost for 3-4 hours on a wire rack and cut into squares.