Why I was experimenting with my recipes just a few hours before I was to present a dessert type dish to a bunch of unknown (and known) people, I’m really not sure.
Why not stick with a well worn recipe that I knew inside and out? (Well where’s the fun in that I say?)
This recipe came out of the title really. I’d already named it before I had even made it. I knew I had pears to be used. I knew ginger is a winner with it, as I regularly make something similar. But sticky. I wanted it sticky. A little more flavoursome, and maybe just a little ninja-esque. (Well ninja rhyming with ginger, seemed close enough.)
I did also have lofty ideas of making a ninja’s face out of dusted icing sugar on each tiny square of cake, but sometimes even I have limits in complicating things just before we are due to go out.
Sticky Ginger Ninja Cake
150g sourdough starter
150g softened butter
150g brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 beaten eggs
3 tbls molasses
250mls of pureed peeled and cored soft pears
150g self raising flour
75g wholemeal spelt flour
extra brown sugar to sprinkle on top
uncrystallised ginger pieces
Cream butter and sugar together. Then add vanilla, ginger, beaten eggs and molasses. Fold through pear puree, sourdough starter, wholemeal spelt and finally the self raising flour. Sprinkle the cake with extra brown sugar and press uncrystallised ginger pieces within the uncooked batter. Bake at 180C until golden and smells like a sticky ginger ninja kitchen.
cityhippyfarmgirl 
it looks absolutely fabulous brydie..love that it’s made with sourdough starter..x
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ps is it ok with you if i ‘pin’ the recipe?
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Go for it Jane. Pin away.
Hope you like the cake.
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This is my type of dessert Brydie. Two things leaped out at me. Firstly your most excellent rhyme 🙂 Secondly that you’ve used starter in it – that must make for a fantastically-textured, dense cake. Yum.
PS. I also risked a new, experimental dessert recipe for guests on Saturday! Us cooking types have to grab our thrills where we can get ’em, hey?
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Totally agree Saskia. The risk of ohhh, will it turn out?? 🙂
And the starter does give it a good texture. No light and fluffy airy cake round here.
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Lovely recipe using the starter and and great back story too!
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this looks so good! 🙂
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Oh a sourdough cake…I love it already! Great name too x
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A lovely recipe! (since I adore Ginger anything) 🙂 I’m re-blogging, Brydie. Thanks so much.
~ Linne
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Oops! didn’t see that you don’t have a ‘re-blog’ button; I’ll put a link on my blog for my cooking fiend friends instead . . . I bet you could add turmeric for added healthfulness, a bit of colour and a slightly different flavour. What do you think? ~ Linne
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Oh not sure Linne. I’ve often had turmeric in warm milk, but that’s about it for using it in anything else but savoury stuff. It might be a bit strong in taste for the pear and ginger as pear is pretty subtle. Give it a crack though and let me know how you go.
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I have never before seen a cake recipe with sourdough starter…but if I was to see one for the first time, your blog is a fitting place for it 🙂
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happy to oblige dear Kari 🙂
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oh yum – and hurrah for experiments and fun names
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I’d be rather lost without experimenting Johanna
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This cake has narf7 written ALL over it! I love me some stick, some ginger and most importantly ninja is my favourite flavour of all :). I can transform this scrumptious omni treat into a scrumptious narfescent veganese treat. In the process I can introduce another fantastically named cog into the equation; I can replace those humbly named eggs with an egg replacer recipe from one Ms Crescent Dragonwagon, a vegetarian author who wrote a fabulous book all about cornbread called “The Cornbread Gospel” that she cleverly calls “Eggscellence”. I can sub out the sourdough starter and sub in some kombucha or some of my thicker and more lively non-dairy kefir in order to get this sucker rising and the sky is the limit for adding whatever takes my fancy. I LOVE this recipe. It is so customisable and promises a delicious, moist, sticky result which after all, is what cake dreams are made of. Perfect to go with a large mug of tea after a hard morning being Earl’s “Fat Anchor” in his endeavour to pee on every … single … shrub … in … the … neighbourhood… for our 5km walk. I NEED this cake!
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Excellent! I would love to see what you come up with for it. Moist and sticky is how we like our cakes around here…dry and fluffy, not so much.
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If you can throw a bit of cake up in the air and it doesn’t come down because it has stuck to the ceiling, THAT’S a good bit of cake 🙂
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Love the name! I miss my sourdough starter, kicking myself that I never used it to make cake.
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Lovely looking slice Brydie! And I can’t help but get experimental, even with people I don’t know. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! 😛
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Now that’s putting yourself in a stressful situation but it sure looks like you coped beautiful and the end result was a winner. I love how this has ginger, pears and molasses! What winning flavours xx
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Cake with pears and ginger?! Oh my, yes please! And I love that you used sourdough starter. Seriously clever! xx
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I want in on this little baby purely because of the name. Brilliant. All for a catchy food name, guaranteed to taste better. Beautiful ingredients. Cant wait to eat it. 🙂
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