Chocolate Gingerbread

My first week back after four weeks off work was salvaged only by the discovery of the last piece of chocolate gingerbread in the fridge. I ate it by myself on the back step while reflecting quietly on the previous month, shivering a little from the Autumn chill in the air and ignoring the searching gaze of Ladybug. Of course, this happened on Tuesday night and the week rapidly descended into a the daily grind that I hadn't missed at all in the preceding weeks.

Although I was greeted with very genuine exclamations of 'thank God you're back' on my return to work, I wasn't convinced that I was ready to get back to the salt mines. Sigh... I really could have gotten used to a life with no sleep deprivation, reading for fun and cooking with chocolate more than once a week. Or perhaps not. (I weighed myself this morning for the first time since before the wedding when I couldn't stop losing weight if I'd tried (which I did try after the final dress fitting) and thought 'oops!')

Anyhow, along the way I made the most delicious cake/brownie I have made in a very long time. It's adapted from the wonderful Nigella's Feast (p278) and I served it as dessert at Good Friday lunch. It's now a firm favourite. I've made gingerbread, ginger cake, chocolate brownies, biscuits and cakes, but have not put the two together in a baked good. For whatever reason, chocolate and ginger baked together really, really works. 

I adapted this to my own special needs by using spelt, brown sugar and upping the ginger content slightly and I can swear by this as an easy and delectable bake that should impress anyone with functioning taste buds.

Ingredients:

175 g unsalted butter

125g dark muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)

2 tbsp caster sugar

200g golden syrup

200g treacle or molasses (I used treacle)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger (I used 4 tsp)

1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp warm water

2 eggs

250ml milk

275g plain flour (I used spelt flour)

40g cocoa

175 g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 170ºC and line a roasting tin or dish of approximately 30cm x 20 cm x 5cm deep.

In a decent sized saucepan (and make sure it is b/c I started off with something way too small and had to switch), melt the butter along with the sugars, golden syrup, treacle or molasses, loves, cinnamon and round ginger. In a cup dissolve the bicarb or soda in the water. Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and bicarb and water mix. It will froth up a bit at this point, hence no small pan! 

Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the lined tin and bake for about 45mins until risen and firm. It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it.

Put the whole thing on a wire rack and let it cool. 

For the icing:

250g icing sugar, sifted

30g unsalted butter

1 tbsp cocoa

60ml ginger ale

In a heavy based saucepan, heat the butter, cocoa and ginger ale. Once the butter's melted, whisk in the icing sugar. Lift the chocolate gingerbread out of the tin and unwrap the paper. Pour over the icing just to cover the top and cut into generous chunks. I served with a dollop of double cream but there's no need for extras.

This is really nice fresh and soft out of the oven, but will keep for several days in the fridge. When it's cold, it has a texture more like a heavier brownie.