Ginger cake recipe (Mary Berry) | Cooking with my kids (2024)

This traditional ginger cake from Mary Berry is a classic retro bake. The spiced, sticky traybake is delicious, easy to make so the perfect winter warming treat.

This ginger cake from Mary Berry is a traditional bake that’s a deliciously spiced, sticky winter treat. The traybake is light in texture with a warming spice that improves over time.

We’ve wanted to make a ginger cake for a while (after making some gingerbread cookies and discovering my youngest will bake something other that chocolate!) When I make classic bakes like this, ginger cake I like to try a Mary Berry recipe. I know they’re bound to be delicious, so then it’s just a case of making sure they’re easy enough for kids to do.

How can kids help make Mary Berry’s ginger cake?

This isn’t as easy as some recipes that mix everything together in one bowl but it’s certainly easy enough for kids to help with.

Kids of any age can help measure out all the ingredients although the black treacle can be a little sticky and messy.

If your kids want to practice cracking eggs there are four chances to do that in this recipe.

Older children, that can be trusted around the cooker and a hot sauce pan, can also help to mix everything together. It’s quite fun to see how the texture changes and it all comes together as you stir it.

Can you make a smaller version?

Yes. The original recipe from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible makes a large 30×23 cm traybake but you can half the ingredients and make a 11x15cm baking tin. I’ve written the half quantities out below to save you the maths. You’ll also need to cook it for less time. Start with 30 minutes and give it more time if needed.

Half quantities
137g (1/8 cup + ¼ cup) golden syrup
137g (1/8 cup + ¼ cup) black treacle
112g (1/3 cup + ¼ cup) light muscovado sugar
112g (½ cup) butter
225g (1 ½ cups) self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs, large
2 tbsp milk

How long does the gingerbread cake keep for?

The flavour of the ginger cake should improve over time so it’s not one of those recipes which is best eaten while still warm from the oven (although it is still good warm!)

The cake will keep for a week or two if you wrap it in greaseproof paper and store it in an air tight container.

Can I freeze ginger cake?

Yes. Wrap it well in greaseproof paper, then cling film and it will freeze for around a month. Freeze it without the icing and if you want the iced glaze, add that once it’s been brought back up to room temperature.

What can I replace the black treacle with?

If you don’t have any black treacle and can’t find any in the shops, you can swap it for the same amount of molasses or dark corn syrup.

Other comforting winter desserts and traybakes

If you enjoyed making ginger cake, you’ll love our other easy desserts and traybakes.

Chocolate traybake
Sultana cake
Sticky toffee pudding traybake\
Ginger loaf cake
Biscoff brownies
Treacle sponge cake
Apple cake
Biscoff traybake
Ginger biscuits
Madeira cake
Victoria sponge traybake

Useful equipment

You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make this ginger cake:

Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
23 x 30cm baking tin
Wooden spoons
Sauce pan
Spatula
Mixing bowl
Wire rack
Serving plate
Cake tins

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Please refer to my Privacy Policy Page for more details.

Ingredients

275g (¾ cup) golden syrup
275g (¾ cup) black treacle
225g (1 cup) light muscovado sugar
225g (1 cup) butter
450g (2 2/3 cup) self raising flour*
2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground ginger
4 eggs, large
4 tbsp (60ml) milk

If you don’t have self raising flour, use 450g (2 2/3 cup) plain/all-purpose flour plus 3 tsp of baking powder.

How to make Mary Berry’s ginger cake

Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C Fan / 320F and get your kids to grease a 30x23cm baking or roasting tin. Line the tin with with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.

We find the easiest way of lining a large tin like this is to cut a strip of baking paper to size and lay it one way, then do the same with another piece of baking paper the other way. If you just lay a sheet on the base it’ll be harder to get out of the in later.

Melt the wet ingredients in a pan

Get your kids to measure out the wet ingredients starting with the golden syrup. We had a squeezy bottle of syrup so just put our bowl on to our digital scales, used the ml setting and squeezed it in.

If you are using cups to measure out simply squeeze or spoon in the golden syrup them pour into a medium sauce pan.

Do the same to measure out the black treacle. Our treacle was in a tin so we spooned it into our measuring bowl. If you’ve never used black treacle before, i’ll warn you that it is very sticky and can get a bit messy.

Now weigh the sugar and butter and add them to your sauce pan. Get your kids to chop the butter up into smaller pieces before putting it in the pan.

Heat everything over a medium heat, until the butter has melted. If your kids are old enough, they can give it a stir with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Add the dry ingredients

While the treacle etc is warming, get your kids to measure out the flour into a bowl.

Add the mixed spice and ground ginger to the flour. Make sure if your kids are measuring the spices that they use their finger to level off the teaspoon so you add just the right amount.

When the butter has melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour and spices. Get your kids to give it a stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until it has come together.

Add the eggs and milk

Get your kids to crack the eggs into a small bowl (just in case any shell goes in.) If you do get shell in, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell. I also keep a spare bowl or the food bin nearby so the kids know where to put the egg shell as I find this saves a bit of mess!

Add the milk to the eggs and let your kids give it a quick wisk.

Pour the eggs/milk into your saucepan and stir it all together again. It should come together into a nice, runny, smooth batter.

Bake the ginger cake

Get your kids to help pour the ginger cake batter into your prepared baking tin.

Bake the ginger cake in the oven for around 45-60 minutes. It’s ready when the cake has started to shrink away from the edges of the tray. You can also check it by pressing very gently down in the middle of the cake with your fingers. If it’s ready it will spring back when you press it.

Leave the ginger cake in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out, peeling off the baking paper and leaving it to cool fully on a wire rack.

If you want to add an iced glaze, mix 225g (1 cup) of icing sugar with a few teaspoons of water and mix it until it’s smooth. Spoon it over the top of the ginger cake and leave it to set. You can also add some chopped stem ginger to decorate.

Slice the ginger bread traybake into approximately 24 pieces, serve and enjoy!

Pin it for later

Similar recipes

If you liked this ginger cake you’ll love our ginger Cornish Fairings, sultana cake, our other cakes and our favourite easy bakes for kids.