Category Archives: Loaves

Low(er) Fat Gingerbread

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Baking is perhaps my favourite way to spend a Sunday afternoon, specially in autumn and winter. I love being able to take my time mixing, baking, filling, icing, decorating. And full baking tins somehow make starting the working week a little bit easier.

I made this gingerbread a few Sundays ago. It didn’t turn out quite as dark as I’d like (I’m still thinking about this black, sticky gingerbread from 101 Cookbooks), but the recipe is definitely a keeper. The demerara sugar gives it a kind of crunchier texture than plain old white or brown sugar, and the ginger sprinkled on top makes for a delicious crusty edge.

I lowered the fat in it by replacing butter with fruit purée and low-fat spread. It’s still high really in sugar, so you couldn’t call it exactly healthy… but it is better than a lot of gingerbread recipes out there. I baked it as a cake, but I’m also thinking about halving the recipe and making it into a loaf.

I recommend it for a grey weekend afternoon. By the way, if Mother’s Day slipped past you this year, it’s not too late! You can make this for an afternoon tea for your mum ;)

Low(er) Fat Gingerbread
Loosely based on a recipe in Food magazine

3½ cups flour
1 Tbsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1¼ cups demerara sugar
75g low fat table spread
½ cup treacle
½ cup golden syrup
100g fruit purée*
½ cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼-½ cup crystallised ginger, finely sliced

*either bought apple sauce or pie filling, or I suggest homemade apple purée. You could also try mashed banana.

Preheat the oven to 180°(C). Line the base and sides of a square or round tin – I made this one in a 20cm square tin, but this cake was probably too big for it. I’m planning on using my 23cm round springform next time.

Sift the flour, ground ginger, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre.

Microwave the spread gently until it has JUST melted (it’s fine if there are still a couple of lumps of unmeltedness), and stir in the treacle and golden syrup. Stir in the fruit purée too. Beat in the milk and eggs. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to make a smooth batter. Pour it into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the crystallised ginger over the top.

Bake for about 70 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave it in the tin for 20 minutes before turning on to a rack to cool.

Vintage Cooking: Canadian Date Loaf

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My mum used to make a sultana loaf when we were little. I remember finding little buttered slices of it in my lunch box at school. And she must have served it to visitors, because I have a funny memory of standing beside a coffee table, which came up to my 4 year old waist, and seeing a plate of buttered loaf slices with 3 or 4 of those brown tinted glass coffee mugs that everyone had/has. I have no idea why I would remember that! It seems otherwise insignificant. But the mind is a strange beast.

Anyway, I’m not sure what made me think of this loaf a few months ago, but I got mum to email me the recipe. I baked the loaf a few days ago, and the aroma of it cooking in the oven created one of those spooky moments. I hadn’t had this loaf since I was quite little, and the smell of it really got me! All the memories came flooding back. Do you have foods or smells that transport you?

This is a family recipe. Grandma used to make it, too, but I have no idea where it came from. I also have no idea what makes it ‘Canadian’. Furthermore, mum never made it with dates, usually sultanas, so its title really was misleading. I did make it with dates this time, though, and re-discovered how beautiful this loaf is. The boiling and macerating before baking results in a dark and caramelly loaf, with a beautiful soft texture. You’d be forgiven for thinking it had treacle or golden syrup in it.  The loaf also freezes well, and has a comparatively low fat content with only 1 Tbsp butter (it does sort of make up for that with high sugar, but… you know…). It’s truly my favourite loaf in the world.

Please give it a go! You won’t be disappointed.

Canadian Date Loaf

1 cup sugar
1½ cups water
8oz dates, sultanas, mixed fruit – whatever you like
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp mixed spice
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Place the sugar, water, fruit, butter and mixed spice in a large-ish saucepan over medium heat, and stir together. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to the boil, and boil for 5 minutes. Leave it in the saucepan until cold.

Preheat the oven to 180°(C). Lightly grease a loaf tin. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together, and stir into the boiled and cooled fruit mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin, and bake for about 45 mins to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in its tin to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack. When cold, cut into slices, and enjoy as is or with a wee spread of butter.