3- Jamaican ginger and caramel gluten-free cake
Check out our indulgent Jamaican ginger and caramel layer cake. It’s a real showstopper, making it the perfect sweet treat for a celebration.
Ingredients
250g salted butter, diced, plus extra for the tin
200g black treacle
100ml dark rum
200ml whole milk
100g dark brown muscovado sugar
200g stoned dates, roughly chopped
3 balls stem ginger, roughly chopped plus 1 tbsp syrup
from the jar for drizzle
150g Carnation caramel, plus 4 tbsp for the icing
3 eggs
400g gluten-free plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
ICING
150g salted butter
450g golden icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
DRIZZLE
3 x 30g bars Caramac bars
Method
STEP 1
Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line 2 x 20cm springform cake tins with baking paper.
STEP 2
Put the treacle, rum, milk and muscovado sugar in a pan with the chopped dates and stem ginger chunks. Bring to the boil, then bubble for 3 minutes to soften the dates. Use a hand blender to blitz the date mixture to a smooth purée – be careful, it will be hot! Stir in the diced butter until it’s melted, followed by the caramel and the eggs.
STEP 3
Combine the flour, bicarb and spices in a bowl, then make a well in the centre and pour in the warm date mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the batter is lump-free. Divide between the two tins (weigh the mixture for really even layers), then bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tins.
STEP 4
When the cakes are cool (or, if wrapped in clingfilm, the sponges will mature to an even tastier cake in a day or two) remove from the tins and make the icing. Beat the butter with electric beaters until soft, then beat in half the icing sugar. Beat in the remaining icing sugar with the vanilla extract, until the icing is fluffy and pale. Beat in the 4 tbsp caramel. Spread a thick layer of icing over one of the cakes and chill for 20 minutes to firm up, then sandwich the second cake on top. Spread the rest of the icing sparsely over the top and sides of the cake, filling any gaps where the sponges were sandwiched and scraping excess icing to give straight, clean, ‘naked’ sides. Chill for 30 minutes until the icing is cold and firm.
STEP 5
Break up the Caramac bars and melt with the ginger syrup. Remove the cake from the fridge and spoon over the melted sauce a spoon at a time, letting it run down the edges of the cake. It should cool and harden as it hits the cold icing, resulting in dribbles that stop before they hit the bottom of the cake.
4- Chocolate soufflé
This easy-to-follow recipe will guarantee light and fluffy soufflés every time.
Ingredients
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
25g golden caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
75g best-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids),
chopped
50ml double cream
50ml whole milk
2 eggs, separated
icing sugar, for dusting
pouring cream, to serve
Method
STEP 1
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Butter four 150-200ml ramekins, dust the insides with 1 tbsp of caster sugar, then tip out the remaining sugar.
STEP 2
Warm the dark chocolate, cream and milk in a small pan and over a low heat, stirring until glossy and melted. Remove from the heat.
STEP 3
Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until soft peaks form, then add the sugar a teaspoon at a time until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg yolks with the cooled melted chocolate until combined. Stir a little of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites until uniform in colour.
STEP 4
Spoon into the ramekins, run a knife around the rims of the soufflés, then bake for 10-14 minutes or until well risen – don’t open the oven door until 10 minutes is up.
STEP 5
Dust with the icing sugar, if you like, make a well in the middle and pour in the cream.
