or scroll for tips (and a little nostalgia).
This Ginger Sponge Cake is also known as Ginger Blowaway Sponge Cake.
As the name suggests, it’s a deliciously light and fluffy cake that’s warmed with ginger and spices.
This cake was created from the top down.
After finding some lovely dehydrated orange slices at my local markets, I could see them perched atop a cake. I scooped them up immediately and started thinking more about my cake-y vision .
I had warm colours and spices in mind when I started digging through Nana Ling’s recipe books in search of a cake to complement these vibrant orange treats.
A warming winter Sponge Cake
The need for a little warmth in this week’s recipe came after a bout of particularly cold weather.
We’re deep in winter at the moment in Australia, and although it doesn’t get as cold as many parts of the world, it certainly feels cold after a long summer that included a fair share of 40+ days.
Pictured here is a recent sunrise frost in our backyard.
Miss Z and Miss Y were quite excited by this frost as they’d never experienced anything like it before – we just didn’t get frosts living closer to the coast in Sydney.
So, back to Nana Ling’s recipe book. I soon found what I was looking for. A light and airy sponge, loaded with warming spices and other wintery goodness: ginger, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and golden syrup.
Decorated with a cocoa mock cream and the dehydrated orange slices, this cake is the type that’ll help get you through those cool evenings (and frosty mornings if you’re one of those people who occasionally sneak a slice of cake for breakfast).
Ingredients for Ginger Sponge Cake
To make this light, fluffy and aromatic sponge you’ll need:
- eggs
- caster sugar
- golden syrup
- arrowroot (find it in the baking section at your supermarket)
- plain flour
- cream of tartar
- bicarb soda
- ginger
- cocoa
- mixed spice
- cinnamon
- butter
- milk
- dehydrated orange slices (or fresh orange slices) or decorating.
You’ll also need two round tins to make this sponge cake.
Making Ginger Sponge cake
To make this sponge cake, find the precise quantities for the ingredients and the method in the recipe card below.
Nana Ling’s Ginger Sponge Cake recipe
Keep scrolling for the tested and tweaked version below in the recipe card..
Find more old-fashioned cake recipes in the Cooking with Nana Ling collection here.
Ginger Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon golden syrup
- 1/2 cup arrowroot
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cocoa
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Filling and Icing
- 240 grams butter
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon boiling water
Decorating
- 5-6 slices dehydrated orange (or fresh orange)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- Grease two round tins and line the bottom of the tins with baking paper.
- Beat eggs and sugar on medium-high in a stand mixer for 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add golden syrup gradually and beat to combine.
- Sift arrowroot three times.
- Sift all dry ingredients into mixture, 1/3 at a time, folding with a spatula to combine.
- Pour an equal amount of mixture into the two prepared tins.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before gently easing each cake from its tin. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Filling and icing
- Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer on med-high for 5 minutes.
- Lower speed and add cocoa and milk gradually. Return to med-high speed for a couple of minutes.
- Lower speed and add boiling water gradually. Return to med-high speed for a couple of minutes or until creamed.
- Use cream as a middle filling in the sponger and to ice the top of the sponge.
- Decorate with sliced oranges.