Jamaican Ginger Cake
A dark, sticky, moist loaf cake made with black treacle, muscovado sugar, warm spices and chopped stem ginger. It gets stickier and better after a day.
Jamaican Ginger Cake: Step by Step
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Heat the oven to 160°C / 325°F (140°C / 285°F fan). Grease and line a 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.
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Put the butter, sugar, treacle, golden syrup and the ginger syrup in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, without letting it boil. Take off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
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Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
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Whisk the milk and egg into the syrup mixture, pour it into the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in the chopped stem ginger.
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Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until risen and firm and a skewer comes out clean.
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Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Things to Watch For
- Do not let the syrup mixture boil. Boiling darkens the sugar and makes a bitter cake, and warm is all it needs.
- Grease the spoon or measure with a little oil before you weigh the treacle. It slides off cleanly and none of it is left behind.
- Wrap the cooled cake in parchment and foil and leave it for a day before you cut it. The crumb turns stickier and the spices blend.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- A quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger per tablespoon of fresh is the standard ratio if you are working from the spice rack rather than a fresh root.
The Short Version
Jamaican ginger cake is a British lunch box and tea-time classic, a dark, dense, moist loaf that is sold in supermarkets in a foil wrapper and is one of the great keeping cakes. The name comes from the ginger that is grown in Jamaica, which has been prized in Britain for centuries, and from the dark sugar and treacle of the Caribbean, that give the cake its colour and its deep, slightly bitter, sticky sweetness. The recipe is a mixture of the two things that make ginger cakes work: plenty of ground ginger, for a warm, peppery heat, and chunks of stem ginger in syrup for a hot, sweet, fresh bite. Cinnamon and allspice round out the spice, and black treacle and golden syrup give the crumb a dark, sticky finish. It is a cake that is made by melting the sugar, butter and syrups together and mixing them into the flour, so it needs no beating and no creaming, and is easy to make. The batter is loose and pourable, and it bakes slowly at a low temperature so that the middle stays moist. The best part is that it improves with time. Wrapped in baking parchment and foil for a day or two, the top turns sticky and the flavour deepens, so it is worth baking ahead.
What to Serve It With
Pot of tea · Butter · Vanilla custard
Keeping Jamaican Ginger Cake
Keeps wrapped in parchment and foil for up to 1 week and gets stickier each day. Freezes for 3 months.
Questions People Ask
How long does Jamaican Ginger Cake take to make?
About 1 hour 20 minutes in total — 20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe serves 10.
What are the key tips for making Jamaican Ginger Cake?
Do not let the syrup mixture boil. Boiling darkens the sugar and makes a bitter cake, and warm is all it needs. Grease the spoon or measure with a little oil before you weigh the treacle. It slides off cleanly and none of it is left behind. Wrap the cooled cake in parchment and foil and leave it for a day before you cut it. The crumb turns stickier and the spices blend.
What should I serve with Jamaican Ginger Cake?
Pot of tea; Butter; Vanilla custard.
Can Jamaican Ginger Cake be made ahead or frozen?
Keeps wrapped in parchment and foil for up to 1 week and gets stickier each day. Freezes for 3 months.
Is Jamaican Ginger Cake suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is vegetarian. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Jamaican Ginger Cake?
About 285 kcal per serving, with 4 g protein, 47 g carbohydrate and 9 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
Jamaican Ginger Cake Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
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Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
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