Steamed Gingerbread Pudding

Manggy could probably be dubbed the 'king' of ginger cakes this (er, that would be last year's now) Xmas season, churning more than a handful of gingery bakes at his blogsite.

It was the lovely dark colours that drew me to this cake from the picture viewed at tastespotting.

Always on a look-out for quick easy bakes, knew this would be featured in my oven all too soon!! Being an earlier riser (I know I should stick to my morning walks especially with additional holiday feasts we've been having but couldn't resist staying in - well ok, actually I managed to do both - told you it was an easy quick bake!) :)

Made them muffin size instead of one large cake which on hindsight proved to be a wise decision, cutting down on a lot of baking time!!

Ingredients (makes 8 muffin sized cakes)

105g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
100g hot water
65g dark brown sugar
72g vegetable oil (but not olive oil)
80g organic blackstrap molasses
pinch salt
1 large egg, room temperature
crystallized ginger, chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
2. Grease muffin tin.
3. Shift dry ingredients together and set aside.
4. Mix hot water and sugar and whisk in oil, molasses and salt until combined.
5. Whisk in dry ingredients until well combined. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. The batter will be tin.
6. Do not be deceived, the cake will rise so please resist the urge to fill them full. 3/4 should be fine.
7. Bake in muffin tins for about 20 min or 70 min if you bake them in a larger cake tin or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Cool in cake tin before removing them.

Bench notes - This pudding was very dark, moist, soft and rich. If you prefer a sharper ginger taste, you may opt for grated fresh ginger instead or even add chop bits of crystalized ginger.