Stickiest Ginger Bundt with Mascarpone Frosting by Melanie Johnson

This mouth-watering recipe is from Melanie Johnson's new cookbook called Bundt. Filled with 120 delicious bundt cake recipes for you to choose from, signed copies of her book are available for pre-order now! You can also include a personal message - simply write yours in the notes section of your order - making it perfect for a gift! Pre-order yours here.

A dark, damp and dense gingery Bundt thanks to the triple load of syrups. They’re all in here – black treacle, golden syrup and pomegranate molasses, and let’s not forget the preserved ginger that adds the spice to that moistness. When I was testing recipes I asked my father, who is a real ginger lover, what he wanted from a ginger Bundt and he said, ‘It has to be a really sticky ginger cake to get my vote and have a bit of a kick!’ So, I wrapped this up in parchment, put it in a tin and he loved it.

SERVES 10
For the 12-cup Anniversary
Bundt® pan:
15g (1 tbsp/½oz) butter
15g (1 tbsp/½oz) plain flour
For the cake:
225g (1 cup/8oz) unsalted
butter
225g (1 cup + 2 tbsp/8oz)
dark muscovado sugar
50g (4 tbsp/1¾oz) black treacle
125g (1 cup + 1 tbsp/4½oz)
golden syrup
65g (5 tbsp/2¼oz)
pomegranate molasses
250ml (1 cup/9fl oz) milk,
either whole or semi skimmed
350g (2¾ cups/12oz)
self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g (1 cup/3½oz) preserved
ginger in syrup, ginger
chopped and syrup reserved
3 eggs, beaten

For the mascarpone frosting:
225g (1 cup/8oz) mascarpone
100g (¾ cup/3½oz) icing
sugar, sifted
To finish:
50g (¼ cup/1¾oz) fresh
pomegranate seeds

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/gas 4.

2. Melt the butter, then use a pastry brush to brush it evenly over the inside of a 12-cup Anniversary Bundt® pan, being careful to get into every nook and cranny. I find it easier to brush from the base up to prevent any butter pooling. Sift over the flour, moving the pan from side to side to coat it evenly. Turn it
upside down and give it a final tap to remove any excess, then set aside.

3. Put the butter, sugar, black treacle, golden syrup, pomegranate molasses and milk in a medium saucepan and gently melt them together.

4. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger and cinnamon to a large bowl and use a whisk to mix them together. Add the chopped preserved ginger and beaten eggs, then pour the remaining wet ingredients over the dry. Use the whisk to mix until completely combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40–45 minutes.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and use a skewer to make holes all over the base, then brush some of the reserved ginger syrup generously over the cake. Stand the Bundt® pan on a wire rack to cool (so the air can circulate) for 10–15 minutes, then invert it onto a wire rack. While it’s still warm, brush the outside of the Bundt with the remaining ginger syrup.

6. When the cake has cooled, beat the mascarpone and icing sugar together. Spoon over the Bundt, then scatter with fresh pomegranate seeds, which give a delicious tartness against the sticky sweetness of the ginger Bundt. This Bundt will remain sticky and delicious for a good few days stored in an airtight container, but it will need to be refrigerated if the mascarpone is spooned over.