Sticky Chocolate Gingerbread with Ginger and Lemon Icing - Gluten Free

I think I deserve two pieces of gingerbread after my gym session. Not just because I worked hard, but because while I was working hard, the TVs were tuned to a station showing young girls twerking with almost no clothes on and teenage boys singing about how some imaginary girl doesn't know she's beautiful while I'm in a rather unladylike squat position with a medicine ball raised above my head - red faced and puffing. I tried to look away, but there are TVs plastered all over the walls, and the walls that aren't covered in TVs, are covered in mirrors so I get to see twerking inside twerking inside twerking inside twerking... ad infinium. It's enough to drive a mother of two to drink... or at least gingerbread.



Sticky Chocolate Gingerbread with Ginger and Lemon Icing - Gluten Free

adapted from here

For the Gingerbread:

180g unsalted butter

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger root

150g light brown sugar

150g black treacle

150g golden syrup

250ml full cream milk

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs

100g ground hazelnuts

120g brown rice flour

50g potato flour

Pinch salt

30g cacao powder 

150g dark chocolate chips

For the Icing:

8 cm knob of fresh ginger root

60g unsalted butter

4 tablespoons cacao powder

Pinch of salt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

250g icing sugar

Make the Gingerbread:

Preheat the oven to 170C fan-forced. Line the base and long sides of a 30 cm x 20 cm x 3 cm baking pan with baking paper, leaving some paper hanging over the long edges. Set aside.

Put the butter into a large saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. Add the spices, ginger, sugar, treacle and golden syrup. Warm through then turn off the heat. Set aside.

Combine 1 tablespoon of the milk the the baking soda in a bowl and stir to dissolve. set aside.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Set aside.

Pour the eggs, the remaining milk and the baking soda mixture into the melted butter mixture all at once. Beat well. Sift in both flours and cacao powder and add the ground hazelnuts. Beat until thoroughly combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 45 - 50 minutes until it has an almost brownie-like texture. Cool in the pan.

Make the Icing:

Grate the ginger into a sieve suspended over a bowl. Take the grated flesh and squeeze it through the sieve so that the juice drips into the bowl. Discard the pulp and retain the juice (you should have about 2 - 3 teaspoons of ginger juice). Set aside.

In a heat-proof bowl suspended over simmering water, combined the butter and cacao powder, stirring until the mutter melted Add the ginger juice, salt, lemon juice and icing sugar and beat with a spatula until thick and glossy.

Lift the cooled gingerbread out of the pan using the overhanging paper and spread with the icing.