Triple ginger and stout cake with a stout butterscotch sauce

If you are a lover of all things ginger in baked goodies like I am, then this one is for you. I’ve used three types of ginger because they each add their own gingery flavour dimension but are quite different from each other as independent components. They also don’t overwhelm, so if you are a real ginger-head you could definitely add even more. The cake itself is not that sweet with the stout coming to the flavour party with a smidge of deep bitterness. It sort of screamed out for a sauce to me, so I decided to use the rest of the beer and make a rich amber caramel and stout sauce to go with it. This is delicious.

Admittedly it isn’t going to win any cake beauty contests, but its the perfect sponge to make a single layer either in either a square or round tin. This cake with the butterscotch sauce widens the serving opportunity to dessert, and the recipe for the caramel makes more than is required. A dollop of whipped cream of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t go amiss either.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you might know that I LOVE cooking and baking with booze and Castle Chocolate Milk Stout is no different. It’s a milk stout with a subtle chocolate flavour infused into it and perfect for dessert making. I’ve enjoyed making all my stout recipes, both savoury and sweet, and cant wait to make a few more over the coming few months. You can check out what I’ve made so far using this dark and spicy beer:

stout hot cross buns

easy stout fruit cake

cheddar & stout fondue

stout beef & mushroom stew

Recipe – makes a one layer cake

Oh, and the other beautiful thing about this recipe is its all made in one bowl by hand – apart from the pot used to melt the butter and make the caramel in that is. Use a hand whisk to mix the batter.

Ingredients

Cake
¾ cup chocolate Castle Chocolate Milk Stout
120 gms butter
½ cup 110gms brown treacle sugar or muscavado
¼ cup Golden syrup such as Lyles
1 free-range egg
1 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
1 Tbsp finely chopped preserved ginger in syrup
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
pinch of white pepper
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 ¾ cups 230gms flour
1 tsp baking soda
Stout butterscotch sauce
1 x 340ml bottle Castle Chocolate Milk Stout
2 Tbs butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 – 2 tsp sea salt flakes

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 180C and line a 20 – 22cm square or round cake tin with baking paper
To make the cake, place the stout and butter in a small pan and bring it to boiling point. Cook briefly and stir until the butter has dissolved. Remove it form the heat and allow it to cool a little.
Add the stout/ butter mix to a large bowl with the sugar and golden syrup and whisk until its well combined.
Add the egg and whisk again.
Add all the spices and whisk.
Sift the flour and baking soda in by hand and whisk briefly until smooth (it will be fairly runny).
Decant this into a lined 20cm cake tin (square or round), tap the filled pan to remove and bubbles and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. The cake is done when its springy to the touch and when a sharp knife pierced into the thickest part comes out clean
While the cake is baking, make your butterscotch sauce.
The quantities make a little more than you need for the cake but store the rest in a sterilized jar and use on use cream or other desserts.
Bring the Cast Chocolate Milk Stout and butter to the boil in a medium sized pan and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes until it has reduced by more than half. Add the sugar and continue to let this cook, stirring frequently until it reaches 110C / 225F on a sugar thermometer. This will take around 15 minutes.
When its reached temperature, add the cream while stirring constantly. Carry on cooking this until it thickens more. Once it reached 105c on the thermometer it is ready. It will also thicken more as it cools.
Allow the cake to cool to room temperature and then pour the warm sauce over to serve. Keep any extra on the side for additional spoonfuls