Sticky Ginger Loaf

Oooo made this one last night with lashings of brandy. Kitchen stank to high heaven of booze for a while afterwards, you'd swear we'd been entertaining the town drunk in there but my oh my was it worth it in the end for the yumminess! This was taken from Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's 'River Cottage Everyday' cookbook, definitely worth investing in!


Serves: about 12-14 slices

Ingredients

75g butter
125g dark muscovado sugar
150g black treacle
150g golden syrup
75ml dark rum (I used brandy as that's what was to hand and it was grand)
2 medium eggs, beaten
225g self-raising flour
1tsp ground allspice
1tsp ground ginger
A pinch of sea salt
75g preserved stem ginger, chopped, plus a little of it's syrup

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3. Grease and line a loaf tin with at least 1 litre capacity.
2. Melt your butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a saucepan over a medium heat until combined. Leave to cool a little, then mix in the booze, followed by the eggs.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the melted mixture and stir until smooth.
4. Stir in your chopped ginger and syrup.
5. Pour the mix into your prepared tin and bake for about 50 minutes to an hour (until a skewer instered in the middle comes out clean).
6. Leave to cool a little in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool further.