I’ve only really started to like gingerbread cake in the last few years. Despite the fact that I’m 38 (OMG that looks so much worse when I write it down!!), I only feel like I’ve grown into being a proper adult in the last few years. Perhaps it was starting the blog and then trying to turn it into a business – making my own decisions about the direction of my work, rather than having objectives and targets filtered down through upper management. I’m blaming (in a good way) having a child-at-heart husband and two crazy adorable kids for keeping me young.
So now that I’ve actually started considering myself an adult (an adult who still loves lego movies, eating too much chocolate and not going to bed at a sensible hour), I guess my food tastes have grown up a little too. Nowadays (see – even using old-people phrases now argh!) I’d wrinkle my nose at the tuna-spaghetti-ketchup concoction I used to love for dinner when I was young. Or the cartons of strawberry Ribena I sometimes used to be paid with when I helped my mum out at the papershop. Instead I rather like a nice glass of red wine (that took me until well into my twenties to enjoy), a plate of perfectly cooked seafood (fishfingers and the aforementioned tuna used to be my limit) and grown-up desserts like tiramisu, teabreads and spicy ginger cakes.
So this pumpkin gingerbread is the perfect afternoon treat. It makes a large batch, so it’s great to wrap in some foil and take out to bonfire night, or even to serve warm with custard when you get home. Pumpkin recipes aren’t really a huge thing in the UK – and in fact canned pumpkin can be difficult to source in smaller shops. I really wanted to make a recipe with it, and it worked to make the sponge beautifully tender. If you can’t find canned pumpkin, or don’t want to use it, you can simply leave it out and add an extra 120mls (½ cup) of milk. The whisky drizzle will still ensure you still get a lovely, tender, flavourful cake.
Word of warning though – the whisky isn’t cooked into the cake. It’s part of the glaze on top, so it does have alcohol in it! If you don’t want to use whisky, you can replace it with spiced ginger cordial or even a little water mixed with some a flavoured extract – such as vanilla, cocoa, toffee or even rum extract (<–affiliate link).
The Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake with Sticky Whisky Glaze Recipe:
