As I previously mentioned, I was recently sent a lovely hamper of sugars from Whitworths Sugar which sugars so that I could take part in their Baking Challenge. The new range of sugars consists of six high quality baking sugars - fine caster, superfine icing, fine demerara, crunchy demerara, light soft brown and dark soft brown sugar, all in sturdy re-sealable packs that stand up on a sturdy base to make it much easier to measure out the sugar. There is also a Twist and Sprinkle icing sugar duster with built in sieve which is brilliant for dusting a work surface when rolling out sugar paste to cover cakes or for adding a sprinkle of icing sugar to the top of cakes or bakes. I was very excited about the Twist and Sprinkle, fab idea and so handy, saddo baking and cake decorating addict that I am.
The Baking Challenge was to bake one of the Whitworths Sugar recipes included in the pack and also bake one of my recipes using the sugar provided. I decided to make the Whitworths Sugar recipe in the pack that used as many of the sugars as possible. I baked a Pear and Ginger Cake with Sticky Toffee Sauce for pudding and it was delicious.
I didn't have any dates so I used prunes and used an extra pear as I had 4 that needed using up. The cake was lovely and moist and the toffee sauce was lovely and rich without being too sweet.
Here is the recipe (reproduced with kind permission):
Scrummy Ginger and Pear Cake with Toffee Sauce
150g ready to eat dates
250ml boiling water 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g WHITWORTHS FINE CASTER SUGAR
50g WHITWORTHS DARK SOFT BROWN SUGAR
125g butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger
3 ripe pears peeled, cored, cut into 2cm pieces
Toffee Sauce
100g WHITWORTHS LIGHT SOFT BROWN SUGAR
100g butter
150ml double cream
WHITWORTHS TWIST AND SPRINKLE ICING SUGAR
Preheat oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4. Line a round 22cm cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
Coarsely chop the dates, place in a heatproof bowl and add the boiling water and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside to cool and then coarsely mash with a fork.
Beat the WHITWORTHS FINE CASTER and WHITWORTHS DARK SOFT BROWN SUGAR and butter in a large bowl until pale and creamy.
Add the egg and continue to beat for 1 minute.
Sift the flour and cinnamon into the bowl with the date mixture and pears.
Using a large metal spoon fold until well combined.
Pour into the tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check the cake after 50 minutes and if the top is browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil and continue to cook.
Toffee Sauce
Place the cream, WHITWORTHS LIGHT SOFT BROWN SUGAR and remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
Serve the warm cake with a drizzle of toffee sauce and decorate with TWIST AND SPRINKLE ICING SUGAR.
Coarsely chop the dates, place in a heatproof bowl and add the boiling water and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside to cool and then coarsely mash with a fork.
Beat the WHITWORTHS FINE CASTER and WHITWORTHS DARK SOFT BROWN SUGAR and butter in a large bowl until pale and creamy.
Add the egg and continue to beat for 1 minute.
Sift the flour and cinnamon into the bowl with the date mixture and pears.
Using a large metal spoon fold until well combined.
Pour into the tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check the cake after 50 minutes and if the top is browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil and continue to cook.
Toffee Sauce
Place the cream, WHITWORTHS LIGHT SOFT BROWN SUGAR and remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
Serve the warm cake with a drizzle of toffee sauce and decorate with TWIST AND SPRINKLE ICING SUGAR.
I'm working with Whitworths Sugar, whose www.whitworths-sugar.co.uk site includes ideas and recipes for baking with sugar. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the #bakingS0S hash tag and @WhitworthsSugar.
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