This sticky Jamaican ginger cake is out of this world with cosy spices and a moist melt-in-your-mouth crumb. It's a British classic that's been enjoyed for many years, yet you won't believe how easy it is to make in one pot with sugars, treacles, and chunks of sticky ginger.
This recipe has been carefully measured in grams and US cups so you can enjoy it wherever you are in the world!
You might think this delicious moist ginger cake is a traditional cake from Jamaica, But there's been an ongoing debate over many a hot cup of tea that it is actually a British recipe.
That is because ginger and dark brown muscovado sugar were introduced to the British market from Jamaica by the Spanish in the 18th century. And around 50 years ago, was commercialised in the UK as a McVities Jamaica Ginger Cake recipe.
Either way, you too would be proud to claim this spicy cake as your native recipe. And its mix of black treacle, syrup, ginger, and other spices results in a dark, sticky texture that only gets better with time.
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✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Here are just a handful of reasons why we think you and your guests will be happily content with this spiced stem ginger cake Jamaican recipe!
- Great Christmas cake alternative for kids
- Easy to make vegan with a few simple swaps
- Made with simple ingredients found in your pantry
- It is bursting with flavour and tastes like the real thing
- Perfect for slicing and sharing on a serving plate with a cup of tea
- Keeps well in cake tins and tastes even better after a couple of days
- An easy ginger cake recipe that can be mixed altogether in one large heavy bottomed saucepan
🛒 Ingredient Notes
Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.
Plain flour - this is All Purpose flour (AP) without any leavening additives as it uses additional baking soda instead
Spices - I use a mix of ground ginger, mixed spice (or all spice), ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt
Dark brown sugar - or dark muscovado sugar, for a darker sweet cake. If using light brown sugar, it will result in a paler cake
Black treacle - or blackstrap molasses for a dark colour, rich flavour and moistness. This (and the golden syrup) is a key ingredient for its sticky nature as it is said that it needs time to absorb moisture.
Golden syrup - for a sweeter, lighter taste to balance the black treacle. Or, if using, you can swap 2 tablespoon for ginger syrup that comes with stem ginger for the best ginger cake recipe!
Bicarbonate of soda - or baking soda, not baking powder, so that it reacts with the acids in the cake mix
Unsalted Butter - for a delicious, moist crumb. If using salted butter, omit the extra salt in this recipe. Also note, this can be used straight out of the fridge
Eggs - these are large eggs, beaten for an even bake
Milk - I use whole milk for an extra moist and flavoursome cake use any milk you wish
Stem ginger (optional) - you can buy these ready diced in a jar usually in syrup for an extra special kick of ginger, or dice 5 stem ginger balls. A cheaper alternative could be to use the same weight in crystalised ginger or omit it completely
📋 Instructions
First, preheat your oven to 160 c fan oven, 180c conventional, gas mark 4, 350F. Then grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
1. Put the syrup, treacle, butter, and sugar into the saucepan and melt over low heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Important: Do not boil as it will change the taste and texture once cooled.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and leave until room temperature.
If using cold milk, this should take about 5 minutes.
3. Now gently stir the beaten egg into the cooled butter and sugar mixture until fully combined.
Important - don't be tempted to add it while it's still hot, otherwise, it will prematurely cook the eggs.
4. If preferred, in a separate mixing bowl or separate bowl, you can stir all of the dry ingredients together.
Then patiently sift a little bit of flour mixture into the syrup at a time and stir to prevent lumps.
If you want to reduce the prep's total time, you can use a mixer with a mixing bowl at medium speed.
5. Once you have a smooth mixture, gently stir in the diced ginger if using.
Tip: I recommend grating or dicing your stem ginger ultra finely so the taste is distributed more evenly.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the middle of your preheated oven to bake for 50 minutes.
Then test by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake to see if it comes out clean. If not, repeat baking in 5-10 minute increments.
Now let the cake cool in the baking tin for 10 minutes, then turn it on to a wire rack.
Key tips: Don't open the oven until 50 minutes is up and don't attempt to skewer test a wobbly top cake as it may sink.
Also, for best results, if your cake looks perfect on top, but the skewer has a smear of batter on it, cover it with tin foil and bake for longer to prevent it from burning and drying out.
👩🍳 Substitutions
If you want to make this sticky Jamaican ginger cake recipe, but you don't have all the ingredients, don't worry. Here are some easy substitutions you can make to still enjoy this moist and spicy cake:
- Plain flour - for a gluten free Jamaican ginger stem cake, use GF plain or all-purpose flour with ⅓ teaspoon xanthan gum for a less crumbly cake
- Milk - swap for any plant based milk of your choice, or a mix of milk and soured cream for a tangy flavour. Alternatively, you can swap 30 ml milk for 2 tbsps of ginger wine
- Butter - you can use vegan stork, baking block, or vegan spread, but it does result in a slightly drier texture than butter
- Golden syrup - swap for the syrup that comes with stem ginger - it tastes incredible with the extra boost in flavour. Or use light corn syrup, agave, etc
- Black treacle - If you don't have treacle, you can use molasses or dark corn syrup instead. They have a similar dark and sticky texture and flavour
- Stem ginger - to save money, swap for crystalised ginger, 2 tablespoon of fresh ginger, peeled and grated. Or a much cheaper way is to use mixed peel for citrus flavours with a similar texture
- Dark soft brown sugar - for a lighter coloured ginger cake, swap for light brown sugar
- Bicarbonate of soda - if swapping for baking powder, I recommend using self-raising flour too, but it won't be as light or moist
- Eggs - you could try replacing them with a flax egg. In this case, mix a total of 2 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoon of water and leave to thicken for 5 minutes before stirring into the melted syrup
⚖️ Variations
If you want to make the best sticky ginger cake recipe, here are some different variations you can try:
- Zesty - for an extra warming taste, you can stir citrus zests like lemon and orange zest as I do in my boil and simmer cake
- Fruity - instead of ginger, try stirring in mixed peel, cherries, cranberries, dates, raisins, sultanas, etc. Or stir in some ready made mincemeat
- Festive - try poking holes in the cake while cooling, then feed it with a few teaspoons of ginger wine, rum, brandy, etc
- Nutty - add some chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds slices, etc
- Ginger wine iced topping - mix 2 tablespoon of ginger wine with 180g of icing sugar, then pour onto the cake once cooled
- Kid-friendly - if you think stem ginger may be too much of a kick for young tastebuds, you can leave it out. However, next time, you may want to increase the ground ginger by ½ tbsp
🔪 Equipment
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- 2lb loaf tin - or 2 x 1lb loaf tins
- 2lb loaf liner - or baking paper
- Saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Chopping knife
- Chopping board
- Wire rack
❄️ Storage
Storing - we prefer eating homemade ginger cake after storing it for a couple of days in a cake tin at room temperature. But it can last up to 7 days in an airtight container.
Freezing - cool to room temperature and store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Heating - If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave a slice for 30 seconds and serve with hot custard or melty ginger ice cream
💡Pro Tips
- If you avoid a small pan to melt the sugars, syrups, and butter, you can use a larger pan as a mixing bowl too
- Instead of a 2lb loaf tin, you can divide the mixture and make 2 x 1lb loaf cakes and share one as a gift, or eat one now, save the other the flavours to meld
- Avoid using a small saucepan while melting the butter, sugar, and treacle as you can also use it as a large bowl to mix your sticky Jamaican ginger cake in
- While melting butter and sugar mix, scrape the bottom of the pan to test if you can feel grit at the bottom. If you can, then the sugar has not dissolved yet!
- Do not boil the syrup mixture while melting with the butter and sugar as you would be essentially making toffee. This can result in a hard, dry cake. Try opting for low to medium heat at a push
- If you don't want to wait for your Jamaican cake to turn sticky, you can speed things up by brushing the entire cake with ginger syrup that comes with stem ginger while the cake cools. Or use maple syrup if more accessible
- To prevent your cake from turning too brown in the oven, place it on a lower oven shelf where the top meets the middle (although you may need to increase the cooking time) and cover the top of the cake with tinfoil once you're happy with its rich dark golden brown colour
- To avoid lumps in the cake batter, sift the flour, bicarb, and spices and patiently stir in a little bit at a time by hand or into a bowl of a stand mixer
- If you don't have a loaf tin liner or baking parchment to line your loaf tin, I recommend greasing a non-stick cake tin well and ideally one with a removable base
- To find out whether your cake has finished baking, insert a skewer into the centre and it should come out clean. If not, keep baking in 10-minute increments and check again
- For a more even bake, you could dissolve your baking soda in 1 tablespoon (15 ml of water) before adding it to the batter so that it is evenly dispersed with the rest of the ingredients
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This Jamaican ginger cake is delicious on its own, but you can also serve it with some other treats to make it even more special:
A cup of tea - it's perfect to wash away the spicy sugars, especially a cup of spiced chai or a fragrant Earl Grey for an afternoon tea treat after an array of sandwiches
Butter - enjoy cold with a spread of butter or brandy butter, or spread and pan fry, or grill gently, then butter it
Custard - warm up in the microwave and served with hot or custard, which is perfect in the colder months. Custard is particularly great if your cake is a little on the dry side
Ice cream - heat up and enjoy with a drizzle of single cream (half and half), whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Ginger trifle - it is particularly luxurious when replacing plain sponge in this pear and ginger trifle for a festive treat
Buttercream - serve with a ginger buttercream by whisking 1.5 tablespoon ground ginger into a classic vanilla buttercream and spread on top or decorate with a piping bag
❓ FAQ
It is debatable that the Mcvities Jamaican ginger cake recipe is actually a British invention. That is because Jamaican ginger was imported to Britain in the 18th century. They were one of the first countries to mass produce ginger for the British market as the Brits loved it and still do today.
You can eat this traditional English ginger cake recipe on its own, or if it has turned dry, add some butter spread over it. You can also warm it up in the microwave and serve it with some custard, cream or ice cream for a great snack or a dessert.
This Jamaican ginger loaf cake recipe will last for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature. It will also become more moist and sticky over time, which enhances the flavour and texture.
You can preserve its life even longer by feeding it every week with your flavour spirit like a Christmas cake and wrapping it well in aluminium foil, then clingfilm.
Once you've created your spicy cake batter, grease your slow cooker pot well. Then pour the batter in and place the lid on top before baking on high for 2 hours (without removing the lid in-between) and test with a skewer.
For 2lb cake recipes, I use a quick-release round 9" diameter (approx 23 cm diameter) cake pan.
When baking Jamaica ginger cake, there is a lot of moisture from the very wet batter due to the treacle, syrup, butter and milk. And as it cools in the tin over 2 days, the treacle absorbs the moisture, giving it a sticky surface and tender crumb inside.
There are a few reasons this recipe for sticky ginger cake could be dry:
- you used a baking block as opposed to butter
- The syrup cooked too high a heat in the pan (it only needs melting)
- It was baked on too high a shelf in the oven
- It was exposed to the heat for too long. Tip: next time, cover it with tin foil if it looks perfect, but is still raw inside
- Try baking on a lower shelf. It will take longer, but slow and steady wins the race here
A delicious McVities Jamaican ginger cake recipe can be eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet, provided it is in moderation with its sugars, flours and butter.
With the added ginger, it has many medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory effects for osteoarthritis and aids digestion.
➕ More Afternoon Tea Recipes
Looking to make an array of delicious cakes for a gathering, a gift or an indulgent treat at home? Why not try some of our favourite cakes:
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📖 Recipe
Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake Recipe {Mcvities Copycat}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 250 g Plain Flour (US = 1 & ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon All Purpose flour)
- 1.5 tablespoon Ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice
- ⅓ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 125 g Unsalted butter (US = ½ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 85 g Golden Syrup (US = ¼ cup)
- 125 g Black treacle (US = ⅓ cup + ½ tbsp)
- 130 g Dark soft brown sugar (US = ⅔ cup packed)
- 2 large Eggs beaten
- 140 ml Milk (US = 5oz)
- 85 g Stem ginger (5 balls) (US = 3oz) diced - or Crystallised ginger
Instructions
- First, preheat your oven to 160 c fan oven, 180c conventional, gas mark 4 or 350F. Then grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- Put the syrup, treacle, butter, and sugar into the saucepan and melt over low heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved.Important: Do not boil as it will change the taste and texture once cooled.125 g Unsalted butter, 85 g Golden Syrup, 125 g Black treacle, 130 g Dark soft brown sugar
- Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and leave until room temperature.If using cold milk, this should take about 5 minutes.140 ml Milk
- Now gently stir the beaten egg into the cooled butter and sugar mixture until fully combined.Important - don't be tempted to add it while it's still hot, otherwise, it will prematurely cook the eggs2 large Eggs
- If preferred, in a separate mixing bowl or separate bowl, you can stir all of the dry ingredients together.Then patiently sift a little bit of flour mixture into the syrup at a time and stir to prevent lumps.If you want to reduce the prep's total time, you can use a mixer with a mixing bowl at medium speed.250 g Plain Flour, 1.5 tablespoon Ground ginger, ½ teaspoon Mixed Spice, ⅓ teaspoon Nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- Once you have a smooth mixture, gently stir in the diced ginger if using.Tip: I recommend grating or dicing your stem ginger ultra finely so the taste is distributed more evenly.85 g Stem ginger (5 balls)
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the middle of your preheated oven to bake for 50 minutes.Then test by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake to see if it comes out clean. If not, repeat baking in 5-10 minute increments.Now let the cake cool in the baking tin for 10 minutes, then turn it on to a wire rack.
Disclaimer
*This is an unofficial page and has no affiliation or endorsement from Slimming World. Slimming World's website can be found at https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/. Any syn values are personal estimates and not verified by Slimming World.
Video
Notes
-
- If you avoid a small pan to melt the sugars, syrups, and butter, you can use a larger pan as a mixing bowl too
-
- Instead of a 2lb loaf tin, you can divide the mixture and make 2 x 1lb loaf cakes and share one as a gift, or eat one now, save the other the flavours to meld
-
- Avoid using a small saucepan while melting the butter, sugar, and treacle as you can also use it as a large bowl to mix your sticky Jamaican ginger cake in
-
- While melting butter and sugar mix, scrape the bottom of the pan to test if you can feel grit at the bottom. If you can, then the sugar has not dissolved yet!
-
- Do not boil the syrup mixture while melting with the butter and sugar as you would be essentially making toffee. This can result in a hard, dry cake. Try opting for low to medium heat at a push
-
- If you don't want to wait for your Jamaican cake to turn sticky, you can speed things up by brushing the entire cake with ginger syrup that comes with stem ginger while the cake cools. Or use maple syrup if more accessible
-
- To prevent your cake from turning too brown in the oven, place it on a lower oven shelf where the top meets the middle (although you may need to increase the cooking time) and cover the top of the cake with tinfoil once you're happy with its rich dark golden brown colour
-
- To avoid lumps in the cake batter, sift the flour, bicarb, and spices and patiently stir in a little bit at a time by hand or into a bowl of a stand mixer
-
- If you don't have a loaf tin liner or baking parchment to line your loaf tin, I recommend greasing a non-stick cake tin well and ideally one with a removable base
-
- To find out whether your cake has finished baking, insert a skewer into the centre and it should come out clean. If not, keep baking in 10-minute increments and check again
- For a more even bake, you could dissolve your baking soda in 1 tablespoon (15 ml of water) before adding it to the batter so that it is evenly dispersed with the rest of the ingredients
Katie L
This cake was delicious! We couldn’t wait a few days to eat it as it was for a party. Everyone agreed it was very like the McVities one.
Roxi
Before I made this, I made stem ginger and crystallized ginger. I saved the water from boiling the ginger and made ginger syrup from that. After that, I made your recipe. Omg! It took me back to my childhood, eating my favorite McVitties ginger cake. Because I live in the States, black treacle was hard to get so I substituted it for molasses. I'll definitely have this cake on a monthly rotation in my home. There's only me so when the cake is cooled, I can cut it into individual slices, wrap and freeze them so I can have a taste of home at any time. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Sally Darkens
Made this cake ( I split it into 2 ). Used fresh grated ginger (approx 45g)
and baked it for 40 mins. The results were perfect. Lovely and moist and just the right amount of ginger zing.
Really reminded me of the Jamaica Ginger cake we used to get in the uk, (we live in the USA now).My hubby loved it.
Erica
I was wondering if I could bake it in an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. I'd love to serve it as a "wedge" topped with some whipped cream and not as slices.
Will Partridge
This is a great recipe. But in your words you dont mention adding the bicarboate soda or the spices. I added the spices but missed the bicarb. Cake is tasty but a bit solid.
Vikkie Lee
Sorry to hear that! The bicarbonate of soda is actually included in the “stir all of the dry ingredients together” step, but I completely understand how it can be easy to miss. To make things clearer, I’ve now added a list of the associated ingredients alongside each step in the recipe card. However, I’m glad you enjoyed the cake.
Mabel Shufflebotham
made this once with the ingredients and it was brilliant, but I want to know what exchange I can do for the stem ginger this time as its expensive. you say that I could do grated fresh ginger (a tablespoon), is this in addition to the crystallised ginger? or what if i just use crystallised ginger? or if i just increase the ground ginger amount? what effect will it have on the flavour? thanks
dave
warm some honey ,and brush on top on top
Dorothy Bloore
I’ve made this as 2 smaller cakes,it’s so nice I will definitely be making this again
Kate
Absolutely moorish.
I halved the amount of sugar and it was perfect
Otherwise followed the recipe
The little chunks of ginger stem — yum
Lovely Moist cake
Didn’t last long. Making my second one today
Dawn Waldheim
Love the recipe
I have tweaked the recipe by adding orange peel and using fresh orange juice instead of milk
I think it’s great 😀may try lemon next time
Thanks for the recipe xx
Hilary Pavitt
No actual list of ingredients!!!
Vikkie Lee
Hi, you can find them in the recipe card at the bottom of the page, which is printabke. Or, as always, there's a "jump to recipe" button towards the top of the page. Thanks, Vikkie
Jean
Hello,
Thank you for this recipe. It is so delicious! I was wondering whether it could be made into muffins? If so, roughly how long should I cook them for?
Vikkie Lee
Hi, apologies, I've never tried, but will have an experiment soon!
Anonymous
Great recipe - thank you!
Charl
Hi, what temperature should the oven be on please?
Can’t see it in the recipe?
Charl
Ignore me, I was looking in the recipe bit, found it further up in the instructions part!
🙂
Kirst
Hi Charl or Vikkie- can you tell me what temp the oven should be on as I can seem to find it on the instructions anywhere?
Vikkie Lee
Hi, I'm so sorry and thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! It was in the instructions in the post above, but I'd forgot to add it to my printable card! 🙈 I've now added it for you and apologies for the inconvenience x
Vikkie Lee
Whoops... I didn't realise it wasn't in the recipe card itself - I've now added it. Sorry - it should've been step 1!!!
Garrie
Great recipe Vikkie, ginger cake went down well. Moisture, flavour and texture were top notch.
Did the cake in two 1 lb tins in the air fryer (one in each drawer) on 150c for 40 mins on bake. I was suprised at how good it was.
Thank you.
Anne
Made this cake a couple of times, wow ! Just lovely. Iced with drizzled Royal icing and sprinkled with stem ginger cubes . A real favourite now . Thankyou
Lottie
Absolutely gorgeous cake Vikkie! I didn’t have stem ginger or crystallised so I threw in some extra ginger powder and it was scrummy 😍
And the best bit? It makes much more than the shop bought one so lasts me longer than 5 minutes 🙀🥰
Vikkie Lee
Thanks so much for your lovely comment and so glad you enjoyed it too! 🤗 You are totally right - the store bought ones are so small in comparison!
Lottie
I adore this cake. I didn’t have any fresh or crystallised ginger, but threw in twice the powdered ginger with a bit of extra golden syrup and it was amazing! Better than the bought stuff because it is bigger!
It’s also lovely served warm with ice cream. My new “go to” cake. Thank you Vikkie! Xx
Verena
I want to print this recipe, but the printed recipe card has no instructions.
Vikkie Lee
Hi Verena,
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I'm so sorry you weren't able to print off a full recipe card and am very grateful you took the time to let me know!
I have now added them and hope you enjoy it too.
Let me know if you can't see them your end!
Thanks again and hope you have a great weekend.
Vikkie
Verena
Thank you Vikkie. It's perfect now. Can't wait to try it. We all LOVE ginger cake.