GINGER SPICED CAKE WITH CAROB HONEY, APPLES AND QUINCES

     Getting ready every morning to go to work during winter time is a tough job. It's so cold outside, that all you want to do is snuggle up in your comfy blanket and let the world go on its own. There is only one thought that gets me up and ready to go. My hot brewed coffee with hazelnut and a cup of warm porridge. I am never one to choose instant meals, but last week I came across an instant porridge package and thought I could give it a go in the office. You just add some boiled water and that's it! I was in heaven! While everyone else was eating crackers and boring breakfast, I was having a warm and delicious blueberry yoghurt porridge. 

     Another optional breakfast for those freezing mornings, when getting up seems the worst thing in the world, is a slice of any possible cake accompanied with a glass of warm milk. After all this, don't you just love winter? The past few days we've been having some very bad fog in Zurich, making everything a little spookier, but also a little more charming. 

     In Nurnberg, Germany, there is a very known tradition of ginger cakes and ginger cookies. If you also look up the "history" of gingerbread you can see that it originates from Germany and the first documented gingerbread biscuits were back in the 1700s. It goes without saying that I am a big fan of spices and gingerbread baked goods are something I love to eat during winter. You can find a few of the recipes I've created with ginger, like the Swedish Pepparkakor or the Gingerbread cupcakes  with creamy frosting.

   Last Sunday, I was looking for fallen leaves to make the photoshoot a little more special. So I went outside to look for something to include in my photos and I found some beautiful flowers with red seeds and green leaves. They looked so mesmerising and fit for the purpose I wanted them. The weather was also amazing to take photos, cloudy the whole day, so that meant I took advantage of it and completed two photoshoots.

   The recipe I will share with you in this post is a ginger spiced cake that is made with a special kind of honey and olive oil. Carob honey is something we use in Greece as well as traditional honey. What I like about it is that it's not so sweet as the usual honeys. It is often advised to people with diabetes in order to control glucose levels. It's also thought to help with stomach issues and has overall a rich profile of minerals and vitamins. If you're looking for something less sweet than your usual stuff, then I would highly suggest it. It's also rich in colour, which helped with the recipe of ginger looking cake, instead of molasses. 

     If you don't know what Carob is, maybe checking online would be a good place to start. It's thought to be an alternative to cacao beans. It's rich in flavour, but has a lower content in fat and sugar than regular cacao. Also, it's ofter used as an alternative to coffee, since it resembles the taste a bit of brewed coffee without the caffeine effect. I have only used the Carob honey, which I find to be a good replacement of regular honey.

Ginger Spiced Cake with Carob honey, Apples and Quinces

ingredients

3 cups flour

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs

3/4 cup carob honey

1 cup boiled water

2 teaspoons gingerbread spice (lebkuchen)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

3 drops of rum flavour

1 to 2 apples

2 quinces

to serve: whipped mascarpone cream

How do I make it?

1. In a large bowl, mix together the honey and olive oil for about a minute until smooth. Start adding the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then, add the drops of rum and the vanilla, mixing once more.

2. In a separate bowl, shift the flour and add the gingerbread spice and baking powder. Transfer in three additions the ingredients into the first bowl of liquid mixture. 

3. Boil the water and start adding it into the bowl, in small additions again. Use a cover in your mixing bowl if you're using a standing mixer, to prevent the hot water spilling all over and on you. 

4. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare your cake pan with butter and flour. Take the apples and quinces. Clean them and cut them in small slices. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan and tap the pan a little on a flat surface to make the batter even on all sides. Take the slices of apple and insert them with the skin on top. Then take the quinces and put them the same way in the batter. Make sure to put one time apple and one time quince to create a nice patter. Start outer-wards close to the sides of the pan and then move in the middle.

5. Bake your cake for 35 to 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. You can serve with some icing sugar on top or some whipped cream on top.