Ginger Gems, garage sale finds and learning from my mistakes...

We've had such a lovely weekend: the weathers been wet, but we've seen lots of our buddies and had some lovely family time. While Little Miss and I were at the 4th birthday party of one of her Preschool buddies, the man of the house went garage sale snooping at our local Scout's annual sale. Among various books and toys he turned up an old gem iron. I haven't made gems since I was a teenager living at home, so I looked up a recipe in Edna Lowe's handy cookbook and here is the delicious result:

Ginger Gems

70g butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

3 tablespoons golden syrup

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 220deg. C. Put the Gem iron into preheat.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the golden syrup followed by the beaten egg.

Sift the flour, baking soda and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mix with the warmed milk. 

If lumps form, give the mixture a quick beat with the whisk. 

Take the hot Gem iron from the oven and put a little piece of butter into each one. 

Place a dessertspoon of mixture into each Gem. Don't overfill as I did the first time, or they will overflow!

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and risen. 

The recipe makes about 24 gems so you will either need two irons or to quickly wash the Gem Iron in between batches.

I overfilled the first batch, then tried to turn them out too quickly. 

The Gems need to rest in the pan for at least 10 minutes before you should attempt to get them out using a knife to loosen around the edges. 

They are super light and delicate and require a gentle hand.

As you can see  from the first photo, I learnt from my mistakes and the second lot stayed together. 

Baking is all about practise and responding to what works and what doesn't. We all ate up the broken bits. They were delicious straight from the oven!  The recipe recommends serving the gems with butter, but they are just as good on their own.

Orange and Ginger Heart Cakes



The weather has been lovely this weekend. We enjoyed a lovely laid back Sunday after all the bustling craftiness of yesterday's Vintage Encraftment Market. We had some friends coming round for a casual lunch, so after a quick house tidy, Little Miss 4 and I decided on using the fresh New Zealand oranges from this morning market to make an Alison Holst inspired 'Orange Eating Cake'. While I was scrambling in the drawer for a baking tin, my enthusiastic little kitchen helper spotted the heart shaped silicone moulds. So since it was a day for catching up with little girly mates, we thought we would give them a try.

I made the original Alison Holst recipe for this cake many years ago after being given the book: Recipes to Remember. Some orange cake recipes require that the oranges are simmered for hours then pulped and cooled before the cake is made. Those were, of course, hours that I didn't have; so I searched the book shelves to find this little beauty. Never one to stick to the original recipe, I included crystallised ginger and topped the cake with orange juice icing.

Orange and Ginger Heart Cakes

2 small New Zealand oranges
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 cup sultanas
3 tablespoons crystallised ginger

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C on bake.

Quarter the oranges and remove the seeds and centre pith. Process the oranges in a food processor until they form a smooth pulp. Add the roughly chopped ginger and process to combine.







In another bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well in between each addition.







Dissolve the soda in the water and fold into the mixture, followed by the sultanas then flour, and finally the orange pulp. 

Do not over mix, the mixture should be light and fluffy.






Place tablespoon lots into the prepared moulds to about 3/4 full - they will rise a bit.

I sprayed the silicone moulds with baking spray as I didn't want our hearts to stick. We made 8 heart moulds and a loaf tin.




The hearts took about 25 minutes to bake and the loaf tin about 40 minutes.

Leave the cakes in the moulds to cool before attempting to get them out. I pulled the sides away from each cake, then inverted the moulds onto a cake rack and lifted them off the hearts.






Orange Juice Icing
Juice of 1 orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
approximately 1 cup of icing sugar


Combine the juices and icing sugar to make an icing with a pouring consistency.
Using a dessertspoon, slowly pour the icing over the top of each heart cake. Do two layers if required. Top with a little fresh orange zest. 

Our happy little baker, in the kitchen with Mummy while not so patiently waiting for her buddy to arrive.

Absolutely Delicious Ginger Cake Recipe

I feel I've been cheated out of this lovely long weekend. While I should have been caking and crafting my weekend away, instead I've been coughing and sniffing, and residing on the couch for most of the time. 
While most people will tell you to lie back and relax through the germ invasion, I've got things to do, cakes to make, garments to sew and knitting to stitch. 

Little Miss 4 was all ready to do some baking this morning. She had all the basics out of the pantry, the old Edmond's Cook Book out of the drawer, her 'proper stool' all set up, apron on and hands washed. Trouble was I felt so rubbish that finding the caster sugar on the bottom shelf sent me back to the couch. Anyway, after a day of rest and telling myself I was well again, we started our baking project after tea. Nothing like baking in your PJ's.  

We randomly chose this recipe and it is absolutely delicious. Typically I recombined and tweaked a couple of things, and the result was excellent.

Ginger Cake with Ginger Whisky Icing

120g butter
120g sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
2 eggs
240g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
1/2 cup crystallised ginger - chopped
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped
1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk- warmed

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C. Line a 22 x 30 cm baking tin with baking paper.


Cream the butter, sugar and golden syrup together until pale, light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter mix, half at a time.

Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and spices until partly combined.











Mix the milk with the soda and fold into the mixture a third at a time. Lastly, fold in the fruit and nuts.

Pour into the baking tin and spread into the corners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and well risen. A cake tester inserted into the centre should come out clean. 

Whisky Spiked Ginger Icing

While the cake is cooking, mix up the icing:
Combine 2 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons icing sugar, 2 teaspoons golden syrup and 1 teaspoon ground ginger in a small saucepan. 

Melt the icing then take from the heat and whisk until it forms a smooth paste. 

While the icing is hot add about a tablespoon of whisky. I used a single malt Glenmorangie; nothing smoky or it will ruin the taste. 

The heat of the icing evaporates the alcohol content, making it fine for everyone to eat.

Spread the icing over the hot cake and leave to cool.

This was a delicious supper treat enjoyed with a cup of rose hip tea, and it will be a great lunch box filler for the working week.