Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Ginger Cake



  

While the kids are on winter break, we decided to head to the beach house for a few days. I love the beach in winter. I think it's my favourite time to be there. It's rugged and rough, brisk and wild. It's all about piling on coats, hats and scarves and going on long, chilly walks for great coffee. It's about visiting the local farmer's market, stocking up on the best fruit and vegetables, jams and chutneys, bread and cheese, chocolate and nuts. It's about snuggling up on the sofa with a good book and a glass of red wine. It's about sitting upstairs and watching the tide and the sky do their thing. It's about listening to the crashing surf as you drift off to sleep. It's about eating fat slabs of Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Ginger Cake while watching movies and playing board games. It's no wonder I love the beach in winter so much.

Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Ginger Cake

slightly adapted from here

For the Cake:

175g unsalted butter

125g light brown sugar

2 tablespoons caster sugar

200g golden syrup

200g black molasses

1/4 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 tablespoons warm water

2 eggs

250ml buttermilk

275g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

180g dark chocolate, chopped into rough chunks

For the Glaze:

250g icing sugar

30g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

60ml ginger ale

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line a 30cm x 20cm x 5cm deep baking pan with baking paper. Set aside.

Put the butter, sugars, golden syrup, molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ginger in a large saucepan on put them over a low heat. Allow the butter to melt and stir them together. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Mix the water and baking soda together in a small bowl. Add it to the butter mixture along with the eggs and  buttermilk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour and cocoa powder and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the 45 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.

Make the Glaze:

Put the butter, cocoa powder and ginger ale into a saucepan and heat on medium until the butter had melted. Sieve the icing sugar into a saucepan and whisk until combined.

Take the cake out of the pan, peel the baking paper away from the sides, and pour the glaze over, letting it cover the top of cake and drip down the sides. Allow the glaze to set before slicing.