a very simple ginger cake recipe. no icing, no candied orange peel or candied lemon peel!
perfect for breakfast, or for the afternoon with a nice cup of tea.
the honey replaces the sugar, and there's no butter. don't hesitate to use a "strong" honey if you like those kinds of honey (pine tree or chestnut ones). a flowers' honey will be a little more subtle, with less strong flavours.
we usually make two of this: one is gone within the day, and the other one lasts for one or two mornings after!
for one cake:
250 g honey
125 g all-purpose flour
125 g wholewheat flour
2 tbsp baking powder
50 g almond powder
10 cl milk
1 egg
1 tbsp orange zest
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp gingerbread spices blend
preheat the oven to 170°C (338 F).
butter and flour a baking pan.
in a saucepan, heat gently milk and honey. bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
in a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, almond powder, spices, and orange zests. add little by little the milk-honey mixture. mix until combined. add the orange juice, and add finally the egg. mix until smooth.
bake for about 40-50 minutes, until a knife comes ouy clean. 40 minutes is enough for a baking pan such as the one used for the cake on the picture. 50 minutes should be fine for a loaf pan.
piece of advice:
we actually use 2 different spices blends from the french brand "hediard"for this recipe: 1/2 tbsp gingerbread spices blend (green anise, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, badiane, pepper black, nutmeg, sweet chili pepper, cloves, coriander), and 1/2 tbsp 4 spices blend (pepper, nutmeg, whole clove, cinnamon). we find the green anise a bit too strong with only gingerbread spices blend. just do with what you have, and what you prefer! of course, you can also make your own spices blend
if you don't have wholewheat flour, just use all-purpose flour instead