My first week at my new job has gone well, but very busy as we are in the run up to Christmas! I am currently enjoying a day off!

It is definitely feeling Christmassy here in Germany now. We have spent most of our weekends meeting up with friends and going to the Christmas markets. It is really nice to try all of the traditional German market food and we have developed quite a liking for mulled apple juice!

I have been thinking up a lot of recipes in last week for the blog and have so many Christmas recipes now that I am going to keep some of them for next December! There is one in particular which will take a lot of planning but I am very excited about! If there are any particular recipes you would like to see please let me know!

Here is a recipe for ginger cake covered in chocolate and topped with crumbled gingerbread. It is really delicious and really easy to make! I have added fresh ginger to it to make the ginger taste even stronger!

I have just created a Pinterest account for Lucya Bakes so make sure you go and have a look at it.

You can also follow me on Instagram!

Next week I have a Christmas cookie recipe for you and it is time for the Christmas Food Exchange!

Have a great week!

Lucya x

Chocolate Covered Ginger Cake

Ingredients

60g butter

110g brown sugar

1 egg

115g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

a thumb sized piece of ginger, finely grated

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tbsp golden syrup

To decorate

200g chocolate

gingerbread to crumble over the top

Method

Preheat the oven to 170c (fan assisted).

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat until well combined.

Add all of the ground spices and grated ginger and mix again.

Add the oil and golden syrup and mix together.

Finally, sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture and gently stir until everything is well combined.

Grease a six hole muffin tin really well and divide the mixture evenly between the six holes.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Turn the muffin tin upside down on a cake rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the muffin tin and allowing to cool completely.

In a microwave melt two-thirds of your chocolate. Once it is melted break the last third into small pieces and stir into the melted chocolate until it has all melted.

Dip each cake into the chocolate, I found the easiest way to do this was in a mug with a fork before leaving on a cooling rack to dry.

Before the chocolate is completely dry, decorate with crumbled gingerbread!

NOTE while the chocolate is drying make sure you move the cakes occasionally otherwise they may end up stuck to the cooling rack!