January is almost over which means there is only one more month left of summer and that’s sad, this season always feels like it’s too short! But I’ve been trying to make the most of it. This week it was extremely hot in Aotearoa and one day after work my husband and I decided to go to the beach to cool down in the sea. It was 7pm, 30°C and there were lots of people in the water, it was awesome! I will never get used to living only 20 minutes away from the beach, in Buenos Aires we had to travel 5 hours and it just feels like such a privilege!

Anyways, let’s get to the recipe. I know it’s too late (or too early) for Christmas baking, but in my defence I made this gingerbread back in December.

Unfortunately it was a fail; it didn’t cook properly for some reason and ended up having a heavy, compact texture. I think maybe the oven temperature was too low so if you make this recipe I would suggest increasing it.

Step by step recipe below and list of ingredients at the end of the post.

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Pre-heat the oven to 165°C (like a said before, I suggest baking it at a higher temperature, 180/190°C). Grease and line a loaf tin (23 cm x 13 cm x 7 cm deep).

Melt the butter in a largish pan, then add molasses, treacle and golden syrup, and melt together. I didn’t have molasses or treacle so I replaced them with maple syrup and honey.

Add the eggs, yoghurt, milk and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

Sift the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, mixed spice (instead of mixed spice I used cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander) and salt together, then add the sugar.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in all the wet mix. Beat until smooth.

Pour the mix into the loaf tin. Bake for 45 minutes, cool in the tin and then slice.

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Gingerbread

From The Great New Zealand Baking Book, copyright © Cazna Gilder from Mrs Clark’s Cafe

Servings: 8 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 45 mins | Skill level: 1 (easy)

Ingredients

• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp each of molasses, treacle and golden syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• a good pinch of sea salt
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 165°C. Grease and line a loaf tin (23 cm x 13 cm x 7 cm deep).

Melt butter in a largish pan, then add molasses, treacle and golden syrup, and melt together. Add eggs, yoghurt, milk and vanilla. Beat together until smooth as.

Sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt together, then add sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in all the wet mix – beat furiously until smooth and yummy. Resist eating the mix, and pour it into the loaf tin. Bake for 45 minutes, cool in the tin, then slice, eat and enjoy.

Tip

To make ‘easy as’ caramel sauce, put 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup cream in a microwave-safe jug, heat on high for 2 minutes, stir, then heat for another 2 minutes. Cool to let it thicken up.

Where to buy the book:

Bookreps New Zealand

Whitcoulls

Paper Plus