Ginger Beer House

I have been coveting this tin since last Christmas. In 2011 every baker I knew was making a gingerbread house whilst I was lying dormant... planning my gingerbread bundt for 2012! I literally made this cake up as I was making it; constantly testing for flavour and adding odds and sods as they popped into my head. I was like the sorcerer's apprentice (cue the music in your head...)

I wanted my gingerbread house to have a kick to it. Mine was going to be a ginger beer house! This cake is a trilogy of ginger. Ground, fizzy liquid and crystallised come together to make one spicy mother. It produces a beautifully moist cake with cheeky chewy bits and the most wonderful festive aroma. If I could bottle the smell of this baking, I would surely be a millionaire by Christmas 2013!

Although I made my cake in a house tin, you could just as easily made this in any standard bundt tin. You may find that the mixture makes a little too much for a normal sized tin, so the Nordic Ware Anniversary tin is a good alternative as it has a much larger capacity. Alternatively, you can pop excess mix into bun or small novelty tins like I did. I made 3D people using my Nordic Ware gingerbread people tin! Happy accident...

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g of vegetable fat 
• 650g golden caster sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 450g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 tsp ground ginger (use less if you want it a little less spicy...)
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 100g crystallised stem ginger cut into small pieces
• 250ml ginger beer (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
• Icing sugar for decorating

Method

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch). I used Nordic Ware's Gingerbread House.
2. Soften the butter and vegetable fat and then cream in the sugar in stages.
3. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting.
4. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
5. Add the stem ginger to the dry ingredients and give it a shake about!
6. Add the vanilla extract to the ginger beer.
7. Sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the liquid. Repeat until all the flour and liquid is used up. Fold it in gently... It looks curdled. It is fine... Promise.
8. Tip: obviously, the stem ginger will not fit through the sieve, but it's now coated in flour to prevent it from sinking. Just pop it in the mix.
9. Give the whole thing a brief mix on a low speed until combined.
10. Spoon the mix into the prepared tin, taking care to push the mix into nooks and crannies. 
11. Give it a whack on the worktop to release bubbles. 
12. Tip: Be really careful not to overfill, 3/4 max.
13. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about an hour and 45 minutes. Just turn it after about an hour. The minis took around 45 minutes.
14. It should be shrinking slightly from the sides of the tin and a skewer should come out clean.
15. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
16. Allow to cool fully before dusting with a little icing sugar and dribbling a bit of glace icing for snow. 

Please leave your comments below... x

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