Is Sobriety Next?

If this lockdown was happening in the drear, cold months I don't know if I could bear it. If I didn't have Bert, the dogs and my moth trap I don't know if I could bear it. Today is Bert's birthday. I made him this cake.

Perfect ginger cake

 Felicity's perfect ginger cake. Photograph: Felicity Cloake

100g butter, plus extra to grease
100g dark muscovado sugar
175g self-raising flour
4 tsp ground ginger
175g golden syrup
3 tbsp ginger wine
2 free-range eggs, beaten
Walnut-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
150g candied ginger, finely chopped
75g icing sugar
1 piece of stem ginger, to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and grease and line a 23cm loaf tin. Cream together the butter and sugar with a pinch of salt until fluffy. Sift together the flour and ground ginger.

2. Pour in the golden syrup (the easiest way to handle the syrup is with a lightly greased spoon and a silicone spatula) and 1 tbsp wine and mix to combine.

3. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, then gradually mix in the flour. Finally, stir through the fresh and candied ginger and spoon into the prepared tin. Level the top and bake for about 50–60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4. Allow to cool in the tin. When it's completely cool, make the icing by mixing together the icing sugar and remaining ginger wine and drizzle over the top of the cake. Slice the stem ginger thinly and arrange down the centre of the cake.

This is, without doubt, the most delicious ginger cake I've ever made. Tonight's was the third attempt and there were adaptations, as there must be, during the lockdown. I used dried ginger, and fresh ginger but did not have candied ginger. Instead, I used ginger in syrup from Sainsburys. Hannah, who shops for us in these trying times, does not bake and does not 'get' baking ingredients and this ginger in syrup was a substitution but it is delicious, much nicer than candied. The recipe also calls for ginger wine, I substituted cider which fizzed the batter a little but it worked.

There was cake on Tuesday too as we always celebrate birthdays on the day the girls come out. This year photographs were outside and socially distanced. You can tell by the expression on Martha and Evie's faces that they weren't entirely happy with that.

This cake was coconut and lemon. Check the candles if you want to know how old Bert is. The blog title (an anagram) also tells that tale.

Another delightful distraction is mothing. Rachael is my mentor in this and when I mentioned that I had found a Green Silver-lines in my trap a few mornings ago I was not prepared for her reaction. Apparently, it is quite the find. 

There is nothing so fine as coming across a beautiful moth in the early morning. Quite sets one up for the day. And swanking about it on all the moth and butterfly groups on Facebook and Twitter feels so much better than angsting about the donkeys* that lead us. 

*Apologies to actual donkeys.