Honey, ginger and lemon cake
Ingredients
- 140g/5oz softened butter
- 85g/3oz honey
- 85g/3oz golden castor sugar
- 85g/3oz ground almonds
- 200g/8oz plain flour
- 1t baking powder
- 1t bicarbonate of soda
- 100ml/3½fl.oz natural yogurt
- 3 large eggs
- rind of 1 lemon
- 2t ground ginger (optional)
- 3-4T honey for the drizzle, and extra if you’d like
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas4
- Grease a 2lb/900g loaf tin and line with baking parchment, leaving the long sides a little higher than the tin to help lift the cake out later
- Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir to mix
- Add the butter, honey and yogurt to the dry ingredients
- Lightly whisk the eggs then add to the rest of the ingredients
- Whisk the everything together with a handheld mixer until just mixed
- Spoon into the prepared tin, level the top and bake for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
- Immediately drizzle 3-4 tablespoons of honey over the top
- Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack
- Slice and serve as is or with more honey drizzled over if you’d like
Hints
Save the lemon juice for another time - squeeze juice out and freeze in ice cube trays. Omit the ginger in the mixture, then serve the cake slices with extra honey, strawberries and vanilla ice-cream for an easy desert.
Good-for-you ingredients
Almonds
Almonds are an excellent source of calcium, necessary for healthy bones and teeth. They also contain protein and other minerals such as magnesium and zinc, as well as being a good source of fibre. Almonds are a good source of Vitamin E which acts as an anti-oxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals.
Vitamin E is also needed for a healthy immune system and helps to widen blood vessels and keep blood from clotting in them.
Honey
Honey provides a natural energy boost and as such is useful for athletes before an event. Honey is used to soothe sore throats and can relieve irritating coughs, especially when combined with lemon.
Lemon rind
The skin of lemons contains phenolic compounds which are found mainly in the
peel. Many of these compounds are antioxidants which promote health and help
prevent degenerative diseases. Some of the antioxidants found in lemon pigments are even more effective than Vitamin C.
Ginger
Ginger is a warming spice that warms the body and aids circulation. It aids digestion, has a calming effect on the digestive system; helps ease nausea and is traditionally used to treat both morning sickness and motion sickness. Ginger is useful in treating colds and flu, especially when combined with lemon and honey.