Sticky Apple and Ginger Cake
on Sep 14, 2019, Updated Sep 18, 2024
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This deliciously sticky apple and ginger cake is like a cross between an easy gingerbread recipe and a simpler alternative to a Christmas cake. It’s one of those quick and easy one bowl cake recipes that can quickly become a family favorite.
This sticky apple and ginger cake started out with a simple spiced apple cake recipe sent to me by a work colleague. This of course is one of the many perks of being a food blogger – people sometimes want to share their yummiest recipes with you!
I was very happy because I once followed a Christmas cake recipe that contained apple, dried fruit and ginger. After I lost it, I searched online until my eyes ached, but I never found it.
I adapted my colleague’s cake and came up with this similar but a bit stickier and more ginger-y cake.
Why you’ll love it
- One bowl! Very quick and easy to throw together. Just melt the wet ingredients together in a saucepan, and then briefly stir in the dry ingredients.
- It tastes something like a cross between gingerbread, a spiced apple cake, and a light fruit cake. It’s lighter and fluffier than gingerbread, but still moist, sticky, and ginger-y. In other words, delicious!
- You can make it for your family any day of the year, or drizzle white chocolate over the top and make it your favourite easy Christmas cake recipe! It’s got a warming quality that’s perfect for handing around with cups of tea (or sneaky glasses of mulled wine at Christmas).
- It’s a small batch recipe. There are pros and cons to this, of course. You may not have any cake leftovers to take into work, but you won’t be tempted to overindulge!
This ginger cake has got a warming quality that’s perfect for handing around with cups of tea (or sneaky glasses of mulled wine at Christmas)!
About the ingredients
You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.
Flour: Use self-raising flour. If you can’t get hold of this easily, just use plain flour with a teaspoon and a half of baking powder added. Don’t use self-rising flour instead. It isn’t the same!
Ginger: This cake contains both a teaspoon of ground ginger and some chopped candied ginger. You can either use candied ginger, crystallized ginger (that’s been rolled in sugar), or stem ginger in syrup – whichever you can find.
Butter: Melted! Which means no creaming of butter and sugar necessary. Just melt it in a saucepan or bowl in the microwave with the syrup and sugar.
Brown sugar: For extra deep flavour and sticky-ness. Yum.
Golden syrup: Golden syrup is what you usually find in gingerbread and other traditional cakes and slices (try these gingerbread muffins or Anzac biscuits!). It’s very easy to find in the UK and Australia, but if you’re elsewhere and can’t find it easily, don’t worry – just use 1 part molasses to 3 parts corn syrup. Or even rice malt syrup or honey.
Dried fruit: Any type or a mixture works well. I like to include prunes, raisins or sultanas, cranberries, and sometimes chopped apricots and/or a dried fruit mixture including fruit peel.
Apple: Any type, grated. I’d say pick one that you know is in season and tasty.
How to make this in just 5 easy steps
Firstly,sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, ground ginger) together.
Melt the ‘wet’ ingredients (so butter, syrup, sugar) in a saucepan.
Stir through the ‘dry’ ingredients plus ginger, apple and other dried fruit, and a whisked egg.
Now empty the batter into a small square baking pan and smooth down.
Bake for just 30 minutes.
If you like, you can drizzle over a little white chocolate to make it look fancy. I love to do this if making for Christmas or another special occasion!
Helen’s Top Tips
- Cover the cake with foil half way through cooking to prevent it from browning too much.
- Try the recipe with rhubarb instead of some of the apple. Sticky apple and rhubarb cake… mmm!
- If you decide to drizzle chocolate over the top, be careful when melting it in the microwave – it can burn easily. I usually melt it in 20 to 30 second bursts until ‘just’ melted.
Recipe FAQs
Don’t worry – if Golden Syrup is difficult to get hold of where you live, 1 part molasses to 3 parts dark corn syrup is a good alternative. Or just the corn syrup or even honey in a pinch.
Alternatively, you can find it in on Amazon (affiliate link).
Ever tried Australian Anzac biscuits? They’re made every year (or any time really!) to commemorate Anzac Day, the date of the Australian and New Zealand army’s first major military campaign during WWI. They’re quick and easy to make, and this recipe’s lower in sugar than average.
These gingerbread muffins with salted caramel icing also come highly recommended. They’re perfect for special occasions… and of course for Christmas!
This ginger cake keeps pretty well in an airtight container – for about 4 to 5 days. Like most cakes, it also freezes exceptionally well. Simply wrap well and freeze in freezer bags or sealed containers for up to 3 months.
More easy snack cake recipes
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Easy Italian Apple Cake (Torta Di Mele)
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Lemon Bakewell Slices
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Addictive Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars
Or see all easy cake recipes.
Sticky Apple and Ginger Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-raising flour, (or use all purpose flour and mix in 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ stick butter
- ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
- ¼ cup golden syrup, (dark corn syrup in USA)
- 1.5 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped (either in syrup or crystallized is fine)
- ½ cup dried fruit, e.g. prunes, apricots, cranberries, raisins (chopped)
- 1 apple, peeled and diced
- 1 egg, whisked
topping (optional)
- 2 ounces white chocolate
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200C / 390F and line a 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with baking paper.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and ginger together in a medium bowl.
- Melt the butter, syrup and sugar together in a saucepan. Add to the flour together with the stem ginger, dried fruit, apple and egg. Stir it all together with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- Empty the batter into the prepared tin and smooth down, then bake for 30 minutes until risen and golden. Cover with foil half way through cooking to prevent over-browning.
- Optional: Melt the white chocolate in a jug in the microwave (in 30-second spurts – I find 3 times does it), then drizzle all over the cake.
- When cool (and the chocolate – if you’ve used it – is set), slice into 8 (or more) bars.
Thanks for your response. I just tried it again at the lower temperature you suggested. I don’t think I’d call it sticky but it tasted great and was lovely and moist – not at all dry. ( I suppose all ovens are different.)
By the way I used glace morello cherries instead of dried fruit and it works really well.
Now that it’s the rhubarb season I intend to try making it with rhubarb as you suggest. Rhubarb and ginger is a marriage made in heaven.
I am also thinking of making it in a small loaf tin.
And I am going to try the sticky lemon curd cake as I love lemon curd.
Ahh very happy to hear this, Fiona, and I love your ideas for next time! Let me know if you do try it in a loaf tin – I’d love to know it that turns out as well. I hope you like the lemon curd cake too – every time I’ve made that it’s gone down very well! 🙂
Well I was a bit disappointed. The cake was not sticky and a bit dry. I wonder if the temperature is right.
Hi Fiona, I appreciate your feedback! Hmm, I’m not sure why it didn’t work out well for you. I made this again just before Christmas and it definitely was not dry. If you try again, turn the temperature down to 355F/180C and cover with aluminium foil if it starts to brown too much on top. Check from 25 minutes onwards. I do hope you give it another chance. When it’s right it stays moist for days!
Thank you for the prompt reply Helen re the buyer weight. Can’t wait to try it!
You’re so welcome, Louise, and I really hope you enjoy the cake!
Hi Helen. Love your recipes!
But could we please have a weight for a “stick of butter”? In South Africa we don’t get sticks.
Thanks so much.
Oh thank you, Louise! There’s actually a little button you can click to convert everything to metric grams etc. It’s just above where the ingredients are. I think it’s 85 grams of butter. Let me know if you need any more help, and I really hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
I’ve just made this recipe in 8 muffin sized portions instead of a big cake. I left out the dried fruit & upped the crystallised ginger a bit, plus added some mixed spice. I only had a Bramley apple & it’s lent a nice sharp-ish flavour to the sweetness. Also adapted the cooking temperature and time as I wanted to be sure the apple cooked (160C in my fan oven for 40 minutes). Oh wow! Absolutely delicious! I was a bit worried that there was a lot of apple to flour ratio but they have turned out beautifully & just the right size for a small dessert treat. I will try one with some cream or custard perhaps. Thank you so much for sharing, I will definitely be making this recipe again. XXX
Hello Anne! Thank you so much for your lovely detailed feedback. I absolutely LOVE that you’ve already made this recipe your own. I also love your idea of turning them into muffin-sized treats. They are of course perfect for serving with custard. I’m so happy that this one is a keeper for you! 🙂
Bit late to the party but had to comment. Made it with a few changes – dried apricots only, coconut oil, 2 tsp grated fresh ginger, 180C fan forced at 25 minutes. Hubby said he’ll get me more apples so I have extras to make it again 😄. I’ll chop everything a little finer next time. Thanks for the recipe Helen. Scrumptious!
Ahhh thanks so much for the feedback, Renee. That’s always the biggest compliment for me when there are requests to make again! I love your changes. Thanks again and have a wonderful day! 🙂
Why do people even buy cake? This was quick and easy and one of the best tasting gingerbreads I have ever eaten. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Well, thank you too for taking the time to write a review! I agree that this is a pretty awesome cake – I’m so glad you enjoyed it too! 🙂
Great result with this recipe! I wanted to make gluten free so followed the hints in the comments by Sandra. I didn’t have xanthan gum so added an extra egg instead. It turned out fine. One thing – the dried fruit (sultanas) sank to the bottom. Will definitely make again, thank you.
Hello Jill! I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake! It’s super helpful to hear how it went making it gluten free. Interesting that you added an extra egg instead of xanthan gum! Not sure why the fruit sank to the bottom? But anyway, very happy. Thank you for the great feedback.
What a lovely cake. Wasn’t sure at first as usually don’t make cakes that just have the one egg and I wanted a deeper cake rather than tray bake style. I decided to make just as is and baked in a small 6″ deep round cake tin. So glad I did and swapped out wheat flour for 105g gluten free all purpose with 20g almond flour plus 1 tsp bp and barely quarter tsp xanthan gum. Added zest of 1 lemon with 1 tsp vanilla extract plus a few drops almond extract. One other addition was about 25g whole almonds chopped very roughly.
So easy to mix up and a winner.
I baked on 160 degrees fan and it took 1 and a quarter hours and covered with foil after about 45 mins.
Hello Sandra! Thank you so much for taking a risk and trying the recipe! I really appreciate your detailed feedback and am very pleased that you enjoyed it. I really like your idea of adding almonds and lemon and will try that myself next time I make these. 🙂
Easy to bake and absolutely delicious. Made with apple and apricot. Would definitely make again…quite soon!
Hi Val! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback. I’m very happy you think this cake is as yummy as I do! I love the sound of your apple and apricot version! 🙂
I haven’t made this yet. Would it be possible to provide a weight measurement for the butter?
Thank you.
Hi Lauren! Yes, sure – you need 85 grams or 3 ounces of butter. Was it the ounces measurement you were looking for? There’s a little button to convert to grams. I hope you enjoy these. They’re one of my favourite cakes! 🙂
Hi, looks lovely. Only have ground ginger. Can I increase the amount of ground ginger instead of adding crystallised and if by how much?
Thanks
Hello Liz! I hope you enjoy these – I think they’re delicious! Try adding another teaspoon of ground ginger instead of the crystallised ginger.
Just made this, delicious. I’m using up a glut of apples so made double, was a bit short of crystallised ginger so used extra dried, and sultanas as i think go well with apples. No icing. Really quick as no creaming the fat. Cooked the bigger tin for 5 extra mins and then 5 more mins with the oven switched off, worked out fine. Am freezing a few bars for another week.
Highly recommended.
So happy you enjoyed these, Rita, and thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback. Always makes my day when someone has enjoyed one of my recipes!
It’s easy and delicious recipe. My kids will love this :). Thank you very much for your sharing!!!
Hello Emma. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. I really hope you do give these a go – let me know how they turn out if you do!
I always love your desserts Helen! This is a great combination! Pinned to try it!
Thank you Mira!
Now this is my kind of cake! I’m not so much into those vanilla/chocolate cakes loaded with frosting (although those are good too), but my favorites are always spiced and/or contain fruit. They smell incredible as they’re baking and they’re always so moist and flavorful! And I love how you’ve taken a cake inspiration and turned them into these lovely little bars. Somehow that makes them more versitle throughout the day, i.e. enjoy with your morning coffee/tea, mid-day snack, or dessert 🙂
Thank you, Kathleen! I wasn’t sure how popular a twist on fruit cake would be, but I for one have always enjoyed a good fruit cake! Hope you’re doing well!
I’m getting right into the holiday baking this year and love the looks of this cake! Apple and ginger go so well together 🙂
Good luck with all that baking, Denise! I bet your kitchen smells wonderful!
This is the kind of yummy cake I love this time of the year and I love your idea with mulled wine. I can imagine your kitchen smelled so festive and delicious while baking.
That’s what I love the most about spicy Christmassy cakes – that smell!!
Moi aussi, je préféré ce type des gâteaux à la traditionnel bûche de Noël. J’aime tous les ingrédients que tu as mis dedans, il a l’air vraiment très très bon! A essayer d’urgence!
Essaie-les, Eva! 🙂
These simple, easy, finger licking good cake bars sound WONDERFUL, Helen! The dried fruit, the apple, the fresh and candied ginger – wow 0 what a treat each mouthful of this must be – perfect with a cuppa coffee! Looking forward to seeing your Christmas cake recipe someday 🙂
Thank you dear Shashi!! Really must try to dig that recipe out!