Spiced Gingerbread Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Sticky Spiced Ginger Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Years ago, I fell in love with Nigella Lawson’s famous Chocolate Guinness Cake. (If you haven’t tried it, you definitely should.) The way the stout deepened the chocolate flavour was genius, and it got me thinking about how I could take that idea and give it a ginger-spiced twist.
My Nanny B and my husband, Nick, both adore ginger — the more fiery, the better — so I set out to create a sticky ginger cake that would do them proud. After much experimenting, I discovered the secret ingredient: Old Jamaican Ginger Beer. I’m pretty firm on this. No other brand has the same punchy warmth and depth. Trust me — for this cake, it’s Old Jamaican or nothing.
The result is a rich, moist, spiced ginger cake topped with a buttery brown sugar glaze that drips down the sides in the most tempting way. It’s perfect for cosy winter afternoons, afternoon tea, or as a standout dessert for a dinner party.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
250ml Old Jamaican Ginger Beer
250g salted butter
400g soft light brown sugar
150g sour cream
2 large eggs
3 tbsp syrup from jarred stem ginger
4 tbsp finely chopped stem ginger (from jarred ginger in syrup)
400g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the Brown Sugar Glaze:
75g salted butter
150g soft light brown sugar
75ml whole milk, plus extra as needed
300g icing sugar
Method
Make the Cake
Preheat your oven to 170°C and line an 8- or 9-inch cake tin. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a gentle heat. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the ginger beer and brown sugar until well combined. Add the sour cream, chopped stem ginger, ginger syrup, and eggs, whisking until smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined — don’t overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for one hour. Do not open the oven for at least the first 45 minutes. At that point, you can test the cake with a toothpick; it should come out clean when done.
Make the Brown Sugar Glaze
In a saucepan, melt the butter with the milk and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved. Pour this mixture into a bowl with the icing sugar and beat until combined. Add extra milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you have a thick but pourable glaze — it should fold over itself slowly when drizzled from a spoon.
Glaze and Serve
Place the cooled cake on your serving plate. Pour the glaze over the top, letting it drip down the sides. For a finishing touch, decorate with slices of crystallised ginger or extra stem ginger from the jar.
Baker’s Tip: This cake keeps beautifully for several days, and the flavour of the ginger only deepens over time. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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