Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake Recipe {Mcvities Copycat}

4.80 from 25 votes

Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake Recipe {Mcvities Copycat}

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 tender chunks of ginger.

This recipe has been carefully measured in grams and US cups so you can enjoy it wherever you are in the world!

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Course: Appetizer, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: british, jamaican

Keyword: cake, ginger, ginger cake, golden syrup, jamaican ginger cake, spices, treacle cake

Servings: slices

Calories: 272kcal

Author: Vikkie Lee

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 eggs
2 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.

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

Nutrition