Sticky Ginger Apple Cakes – A Bonfire Night Special
I’ve had the most horrible cold and it’s gone on for nearly two weeks now. As a result, my body has been craving healing foods. Ginger is a wonderful spice for alleviating soar throats and general bunged upness. Earlier this week, with Bonfire Night fast approaching, my thoughts inevitably turned to gingerbread. The result of my deliberations were these little sticky ginger apple cakes. Oh my days, they are good – super sticky and gloriously gingery.
Bonfire Night
I still get excited about Bonfire Night. It was something I always looked forward to as a child, though I’ve never approved of burning Guy Fawkes. The long walk up to the village bonfire and firework display was an adventure in itself; it always seemed so dark and imagination ran wild as to what might be lurking in the shadows. Hats, scarves and gloves were a necessity – I’m sure Novembers were much colder then.
As we rounded a corner at the top of the village, the raging bonfire came into view. What a site to cheer the soul. We ate potatoes baked in the hot ashes followed by toffee apples and then the highlight of the evening – sparklers and the fireworks. Oh the wonder!
This year, we took our sticky ginger apple cakes and joined friends up on the sea front. It was blowing a hoolie, but luckily wasn’t too cold. The bonfire burned fast and bright with all that wind, but the evening wasn’t for the faint hearted. We didn’t linger long, but we did get to see lots of firework displays from all around the coastline. It was definitely a bonfire night to remember.
Sticky Ginger Apple Cakes
These sticky ginger apple cakes are really quick and easy to prepare. All you need to do is melt the sugars and butter and add them to the dry ingredients along with the eggs. Admittedly, there is a little peeling, coring and chopping to do, but there are only two apples, so it doesn’t take very long.
Super sticky and gloriously gingery as they are, these little apple cakes will delight all but the most avid ginger haters. The quantity given in this recipe makes 48 mini cakes or 24 cupcake sized sticky ginger apple cakes. They’re great for a party and perfect for bonfire night, but will also keep well in an airtight tin for up to five days.
I managed to overfill my silicon moulds, so I ended up with quite a few muffin topped cakes and not quite as many as I should have had. They proved to be a great success, however and are the closest I’ve ever come to a ginger cake which has the gorgeous sticky quality I remember from childhood.
My Top Tips for Baking Sticky Ginger Apple Cakes
- Add a little chilli powder to make the ginger extra punchy.
- Make a ginger syrup to brush over the tops of the cakes.
- Be careful not to over bake or the cakes won’t be quite so gloriously sticky.
Sticky Ginger Apple Cakes – The Recipe
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp black treacle or molasses
- 100 g dark muscovado sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 250 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- ½ tsp cayenne or chilli powder
- pinch of salt - I used Himalayan pink rock salt
- 2 apples - peeled cored and finely chopped
- 2 medium eggs
- 125 ml kefir buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
- 2 thin slices root ginger
- 30 g golden sugar - I used granulated
- 50 ml water
Turn the oven on to 160℃ (320℉, Gas 3).
- Place the syrups, sugar and butter in a pan and melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally until everything well combined.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir in the apple pieces. This will ensure they don't go brown and will help them not to sink.
- Make a well in the middle, break in the eggs and start to stir the mixture from the inside out.
- Add the melted sugars and continue to stir until just combined.
- Finally stir in the kefir, buttermilk or sour milk.
- Divide the mixture between 48 mini cupcake moulds or cases. For bigger cakes use 24 cupcake moulds or cases.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cakes are firm to the touch, but not too brown.
- Whilst the cakes are baking, make the syrup.
- Place all the ingredients into a small pan, bring gently to the boil so that the sugar dissolves. Cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Take the lid of the pan and boil gently, until the mixture becomes syrupy - about 5 minutes.
- Brush syrup over the cakes as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Leave in their moulds until cool, then turn out. If using cases, just leave as they are until you're ready to eat them.
Makes 48 mini cakes or 24 cupcake size cakes.
Use cooking apples if you want your apples to almost disintegrate into the sponge, or dessert apples for a bit of a bite. I used windfalls.
Will keep well in a sealed tin for up to five days.
Other Tin and Thyme ginger cake recipes you might like
- Easy gingered pear almond honey cakes
- Ginger and chocolate cupcakes
- Ginger and lime cake with lime curd and whipped ganache
- Iced honey and chocolate spice cake
- Pumpkin and ginger cupcakes
- Sticky banana ginger cake
For more apple cake recipes, take a look at 80 seasonal and delicious apple recipes to make this autumn. There are heaps of ideas to be found here.
Linkies
I’m sharing my sticky ginger apple cakes with Jo’s Kitchen Larder for #BakingCrumbs. It also goes to Recipes Made Easy for #CookBlogShare and Mummy Mishaps for #BakeOfTheWeek.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these easy sticky ginger apple cakes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or via social media. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them. For more delicious and nutritious recipes, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Sticky Ginger Apple Cakes. PIN IT.
Helen C
7th November 2018 at 5:35 pmSuch a wonderful post, I enjoyed reading your about you bonfire adventure, it sounds perfect! These cakes look so tempting too, I might have to save this recipe. Hope you have a lovely week ahead. 🙂 xx
Helen
Choclette
7th November 2018 at 6:45 pmThanks Helen. I do love Bonfire Night, but I have to say these little gingery cakes really helped this year.
melanie
7th November 2018 at 9:21 pmwould be great if these could be refined sugar free!
Choclette
8th November 2018 at 8:50 pmThey would indeed. It rather depends on what you mean my refined sugar. Everyone has a different definition. This uses muscovado sugar and treacle, but also golden syrup – hmmm, difficult 🙁
angiesrecipes
7th November 2018 at 6:39 pmThey look amazing! I feel like that I could devour at least a dozen at one go!
Choclette
7th November 2018 at 6:45 pmHahaha, I’m sure you’re far more restrained than that Angie. I won’t tell you how many I scoffed 😉
Jenny Paulin
7th November 2018 at 7:08 pmthese look so good Choclette, so sticky and moist. I love the flavours you have used too – very yummy. Thank you for linking up to #Bakeoftheweek x
Choclette
8th November 2018 at 8:47 pmThanks Jenny. It was just as well I made loads as they disappeared with remarkable rapidity.
Anca
7th November 2018 at 7:23 pmAww, they look so good. I love the flavours, so I imagine they were delicious. Yum!
Choclette
8th November 2018 at 8:47 pmThanks Anca. What can I say? They were yum 😀
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
7th November 2018 at 8:30 pmOh how I love the ginger bakes and fruity ginger bakes are even better! These look gorgeous and so super sticky too! Don’t you just love when you are simply forced to eat these little morsels of deliciousness for medicinal purposes? I hope they cleared your cold! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
Choclette
8th November 2018 at 8:48 pmCake as medicine Jo – I highly recommend it 😉 I’ve struggled with really sticky ginger cakes in the past, so I was really pleased to have cracked it this time.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
24th November 2018 at 8:09 pmWe have now made your delicious little cakes or rather my 8 year old did bulk of the work himself and they got huge thumbs up all round! Perfect little treats and fab in lunchboxes too. 🙂
Choclette
24th November 2018 at 8:24 pmAw, thanks Jo. Love it when anyone makes one of my recipes, but it’s extra special when a fellow food blogger chooses to do so. And it’s great that your son got so involved AND liked them too.
Corina Blum
8th November 2018 at 6:36 amThese little ginger cakes look so beautifully sticky and such a great idea to put some apple in there too. Perfect flavours for bonfire night!
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:52 pmThanks Corina. I have so many windfalls cluttering the garden and my fruit bowl, that pretty much anything I make at the moment must contain apples.
Alicia (Foodycat)
8th November 2018 at 11:06 amThose look absolutely superb!
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:51 pmAw, thanks Alicia. They were delicious and I was stupidly pleased with just how sticky they were.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
8th November 2018 at 1:37 pmOh Yum. I mean seriously yum! I would love to eat these on bonfire night which I too love.
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:53 pmThanks Jacqui. They were perfect for bonfire night, but I can attest they were pretty good at other times too 😀
Geetha Priyanka
8th November 2018 at 1:50 pmHow delicious these little sticky cakes sounds. It is packed with so many flavours I can’t wait to try them soon.
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:39 pmThanks Geetha. They are gorgeously sticky and fiery too.
Anna@onceuponafoodblog.com
8th November 2018 at 2:21 pmI loved hearing about your childhood bonfire memories Choclette. I have similar memories and I agree, Novembers were colder then! These cakes look delish. Perfect for the season!
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:38 pmThank you Anna. I’m walking around in sandals at the moment – crazy!
Phil in the Kitchen
8th November 2018 at 8:27 pmI love a sticky cake, especially if it’s got a ginger hit too. These sound perfect for an autumn or winter treat. I love your description of bonfire nights – they sound like the kind of fantasy I had of bonfire nights when I was young. (They were a lot less interesting and charming in dingy bits of London).
Choclette
8th November 2018 at 8:52 pmOh you do know how to make something sound appealing Phil – dingy bits of London indeed! Was really pleased to have cracked a proper sticky ginger cake – bring on those bonfires.
Helen at Casa Costello
9th November 2018 at 11:10 pmOh wow, these look so incredibly sticky and gooey. So perfect for this time of year. I really hope you are starting to feel better – There have been some horrendous viruses that have lingered for far too long! Thanks so much for joining in with #BakeoftheWeek x
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:44 pmThanks Helen. Feeling much better now, but it’s taken about 3 weeks – ridiculous. Luckily ginger cake helps 🙂
Jenny walters
10th November 2018 at 2:19 pmThese are absolutely beautiful and should be on the front of a glossy Autumn magazine. What a wonderful treat to bring out on Bonfire Night. They sound divine! I’m off to pin them. Thank you so much for sharing them on #BakingCrumbs
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:43 pmAw, thanks Jenny. You say the nicest things. Little things often look more appealing I find.
Galina V
11th November 2018 at 5:15 pmFantastic flavours! I love any bakes with ginger, and your sticky ginger apple cakes look delicious. Hope you have recovered from the colds.
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:42 pmThanks Galina. It took nearly 3 weeks, but I’m better at last!
Mayuri Patel
13th November 2018 at 4:13 pmI enjoyed reading about your Bonfire Night. What a wonderful festival and to think it falls during the cold season so that one can enjoy the warmth of the fire and with your cute little sticky ginger apple cakes its like an evening well enjoyed.
Choclette
14th November 2018 at 8:48 pmThank you. Yes, there’s something about a roaring hot outdoor fire brightening and warming a cold dark night.
Jill Colonna
15th November 2018 at 10:19 amHope you’re feeling so much better now. Adore the look of these sticky cakes – especially as I adore spicy ginger. I have some fiery candied stuff that would love joining in here!
Choclette
15th November 2018 at 6:32 pmAll better now Jill, thank you. It only took three weeks 🙁 I reckon some fiery candied stuff would make a fabulous addition.
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
16th November 2018 at 9:29 amThese little cakes look absolutely scrummy, what fabulous flavours for autumn!
Choclette
18th November 2018 at 3:25 pmThanks Kat, they are indeed perfect little autumnal bites.