Fresh Gingerbread (Susan, Alison Holst)

(You might also want to check out these recipes: Alison Holst's Gingerbread Recipe.) This recipe is from one of my dearest friends, who lives in NZ. It is so yummy and well worth grating all that ginger--I use quite a bit more than 1 tablespoon! In fact, I'd say I use a good 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup! This cake is so moist and beautiful to look at, but the taste is what you'll remember most--totally more-ish! I have looked in a couple of Alison Holst cookbooks but couldn't find this exact recipe. Susan is pretty sure her mom cut it out of the newspaper. Susan recommends that you eat this gingerbread with "tasty cheese," by which I think she means (sharp) cheddar.

1 egg
125g/4.5 oz butter, cubed
1/2 cup/125ml/4 fl oz boiling water
1/2 cup/100g/3.5 oz firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup/125ml/4 fl oz golden syrup
1 T fresh finely grated root ginger (or as much as you want)
1 3/4 cups/220g/8 oz flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon rind
plus mixed spice, allspice

Cut butter into about 16 cubes, and pour water over them in a pot. Heat till butter melts, then remove from heat. Do not let mixture boil. Add brown sugar, golden syrup, unbeaten egg and root ginger. Mix thoroughly.

Sift all dry ingredients together into mixture, which should be lukewarm, add lemon rind and beat till relatively free of lumps.

Pour into ring tin (7 cups/1 3/4l/56 fl oz size); bottom lined with baking paper and sides lightly greased. Bake in preheated oven (180C/350F) for 25 minutes, leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes.

If baked in a loaf tin, takes about 50-60 minutes to bake.

Ice with ginger icing if desired.