Mary Berrys Grandmothers Ginger Cake Food

MY GRANDMOTHER'S GINGER-JAM BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a pudding dish or a shallow baking dish with the capacity of about 1 1/2-quarts with some of the butter.
• Put the raisins in a small bowl, pour the rum over and microwave them for 1 minute, then leave them to stand. This is a good way to soak them quickly but juicily.
• Make the sandwiches with the brown bread, butter and ginger jam (2 tablespoonfuls in each sandwich); you should have some butter left over to smear the top later. Now cut the sandwiches in 1/2 into triangles and arrange them evenly along the middle of the dish. I put 1 in the dish with the point-side uppermost and so on, then squeeze a sandwich-triangle down each side - but you do as you please. Sprinkle with the raisins and unabsorbed rum that remains in the bowl.
• Whisk the egg yolks and egg together with the sugar, and mix in the cream and milk. Pour this over the triangles of bread and leave them to soak up the liquid for about 10 minutes, by which time the pudding is ready to go into the oven. Smear the bread crusts that are poking out of the custard with the soft butter, mix the ground ginger and Demerara sugar together and sprinkle this mixture on your buttered crusts and the lightly over the rest of the pudding.
• Sit the pudding dish on a baking sheet and put in the oven to cook for about 45 minutes or until the custard has set and puffed up slightly. Remove, let sit for 10 minutes - by which time the puffiness will have deflated somewhat - and spoon out into bowls, putting a pitcher of custard, should you wish, on the table to be served alongside.

MARY BERRY'S GRANNY'S GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• 1. You will need a 23 x 30cm (9 x 12in) traybake tin lined with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4. 2. Measure the flour, bicarbonate, ginger and mixed spice into a large bowl. 3. Measure the butter, treacle, syrup and sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter has just melted. Set aside to cool a little. 4. Pour the mixture from the saucepan into the bowl of dry ingredients. Add the beaten egg and beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Gradually add the milk, beating to make a smooth batter. 5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 35 minutes or until dark golden and springy to the touch. Cut into 24 pieces to serve. Wrapped tightly, this keeps for up to a week. Prepare ahead: Can be made a day ahead. Freezes well. Get your copy of Mary Berry's essential new guide to comfort cooking, with over 120 delicious, foolproof recipes:

GINGER AND TREACLE SPICED TRAYBAKE

Steps:

• Cut a rectangle of non stick baking parchment to fit the base and sides of a 30x23x4cm/12x9x1½in traybake tin or roasting tin. Grease the tin and then line with the paper, pushing it neatly into the corners of the tin.
• Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
• Measure all the ingredients for the traybake into a large bowl and beat well for about two minutes until well blended. A hand-held electric mixer is best for this but of course you can also mix it by hand with a wooden spoon. (Treacle can be difficult to weigh accurately as it tends to stick to the scale pan. Weighing the treacle on top of the sugar overcomes this problem.)
• Turn the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula to remove all the mixture. Level the top gently with the back of the spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until the traybake springs back when pressed lightly with a finger in the centre and is beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Allow the traybake to cool a little, then remove the cake from the tin by easing the paper away from the sides of the tin. Turn onto a cooling rack, remove the lining paper and leave to cool completely.
• To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and syrup together in a small bowl until smooth and a spreading consistency. Pour the icing over the cake, spread gently to the edges with a small palette knife and sprinkle with the chopped stem ginger to decorate.
• Allow the icing to set before slicing the traybake to serve.

MARY BERRY'S GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• This mix makes enough to fill 2 x standard 7inch Victoria sandwitch tins or 1 x 10inch diameter tin. Grease and base line your tin(s) with baking paper; preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
• Gently heat the margarine, sugar and treacle together in a pan, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool a little.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and ground spices. Pour in the treacle mix and stir thoroughly to combine. Mince the stem ginger finely and stir with the eggs into the mix.
• Warm the milk gently in a saucepan, stirring gently to avoid it burning at the base of the pan. Add the bicarb of soda and let it foam a little. Stir into the gingerbread mixture until well blended.
• Pour into the prepared tin(s).
• Baking time: for 2x 7 inch cakes is 25-30mins (bake both together). For 1x 10inch cake bake for approx 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• This cake keeps really well in an airtight tin, and actually improves over the first 2-3 days. Enjoy!