Tis the season creeping closer - the sky is pewter, the cold damp days seem to have arrived for good and there is no stopping the long sleep. The only thing to offset these lifeless days is to bake. As we edge closer to Christmas, it seems only fitting that ginger bread should fill the kitchen with its rich spicy aroma of fresh ginger and cinnamon. I grew up taking thick slices of ginger bread, slathered in butter, wrapped in wax paper to school for lunch in South Africa. It's an old fashioned thing to make, that I don't see around too much anymore. In Nova Scotia I see a sticky version on the menus of restaurants and diners and it is served as a dessert with cream or ice cream. I prefer the drier sliced loaf, made with fresh ginger. This is my mum's recipes made with maple syrup instead of golden syrup.
Makes 1 loaf
2 cups all purpose, unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Preheat the oven to 400F and grease a loaf tin.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ground ginger.
In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar and cream until pale brown.
Add the egg, maple syrup, milk and fresh ginger and mix well.
Comibine the flour mixture with the egg mixture bit by bit and mix together well.
Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Remove from the oven allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Slice it thickly and slather with butter.