Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake Recipe {McVities Copycat}

This sticky Jamaican ginger cake is out of this world with cosy spices and a moist melt-in-your-mouth crumb. It’s a British classic that’s been enjoyed for many years, yet you won’t believe how easy it is to make in one pot with sugars, treacles, and chunks of sticky ginger.

This recipe has been carefully measured in grams and US cups so you can enjoy it wherever you are in the world!

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You might think this delicious moist ginger cake is a traditional cake from Jamaica, But there’s been an ongoing debate over many a hot cup of tea that it is actually a British recipe.

That is because ginger and dark brown muscovado sugar were introduced to the British market from Jamaica by the Spanish in the 18th century. And around 50 years ago, was commercialised in the UK as a McVities Jamaica Ginger Cake recipe.

Either way, you too would be proud to claim this spicy cake as your native recipe. And its mix of black treacle, syrup, ginger, and other spices results in a dark, sticky texture that only gets better with time.

Jump to:

• ✔️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredient Notes
• 📋 Instructions
• 👩‍🍳 Substitutions
• ⚖️ Variations
• 🔪 Equipment
• ❄️ Storage
• 💡Pro Tips
• 🍽️ Serving Suggestions
• ❓ FAQ
• ➕ More Afternoon Tea Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

✔️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Here are just a handful of reasons why we think you and your guests will be happily content with this spiced stem ginger cake Jamaican recipe!

• Great Christmas cake alternative for kids
• Easy to make vegan with a few simple swaps
• Made with simple ingredients found in your pantry
• It is bursting with flavour and tastes like the real thing
• Perfect for slicing and sharing on a serving plate with a cup of tea
• Keeps well in cake tins and tastes even better after a couple of days
• An easy ginger cake recipe that can be mixed altogether in one large heavy bottomed saucepan

🛒 Ingredient Notes

Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.

Plain flour – this is All Purpose flour (AP) without any leavening additives as it uses additional baking soda instead

Spices – I use a mix of ground ginger, mixed spice (or all spice), ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

Dark brown sugar – or dark muscovado sugar, for a darker sweet cake. If using light brown sugar, it will result in a paler cake

Black treacle – or blackstrap molasses for a dark colour, rich flavour and moistness. This (and the golden syrup) is a key ingredient for its sticky nature as it is said that it needs time to absorb moisture.

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Golden syrup – for a sweeter, lighter taste to balance the black treacle. Or, if using, you can swap 2 tablespoon for ginger syrup that comes with stem ginger for the best ginger cake recipe!

Bicarbonate of soda – or baking soda, not baking powder, so that it reacts with the acids in the cake mix

Unsalted Butter – for a delicious, moist crumb. If using salted butter, omit the extra salt in this recipe. Also note, this can be used straight out of the fridge

Eggs – these are large eggs, beaten for an even bake

Milk – I use whole milk for an extra moist and flavoursome cake use any milk you wish

Stem ginger (optional) – you can buy these ready diced in a jar usually in syrup for an extra special kick of ginger, or dice 5 stem ginger balls. A cheaper alternative could be to use the same weight in crystalised ginger or omit it completely

📋 Instructions

First, preheat your oven to 160 c fan oven, 180c conventional, gas mark 4, 350F. Then grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

Key tips: Don’t open the oven until 50 minutes is up and don’t attempt to skewer test a wobbly top cake as it may sink.

Also, for best results, if your cake looks perfect on top, but the skewer has a smear of batter on it, cover it with tin foil and bake for longer to prevent it from burning and drying out.

👩‍🍳 Substitutions

If you want to make this sticky Jamaican ginger cake recipe, but you don’t have all the ingredients, don’t worry. Here are some easy substitutions you can make to still enjoy this moist and spicy cake:

• Plain flour – for a gluten free Jamaican ginger stem cake, use GF plain or all-purpose flour with ⅓ teaspoon xanthan gum for a less crumbly cake
• Milk – swap for any plant based milk of your choice, or a mix of milk and soured cream for a tangy flavour. Alternatively, you can swap 30 ml milk for 2 tbsps of ginger wine
• Butter – you can use vegan stork, baking block, or vegan spread, but it does result in a slightly drier texture than butter
• Golden syrup – swap for the syrup that comes with stem ginger – it tastes incredible with the extra boost in flavour. Or use light corn syrup, agave, etc
• Black treacle – If you don’t have treacle, you can use molasses or dark corn syrup instead. They have a similar dark and sticky texture and flavour
• Stem ginger – to save money, swap for crystalised ginger, 2 tablespoon of fresh ginger, peeled and grated. Or a much cheaper way is to use mixed peel for citrus flavours with a similar texture
• Dark soft brown sugar – for a lighter coloured ginger cake, swap for light brown sugar
• Bicarbonate of soda – if swapping for baking powder, I recommend using self-raising flour too, but it won’t be as light or moist
• Eggs – you could try replacing them with a flax egg. In this case, mix a total of 2 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoon of water and leave to thicken for 5 minutes before stirring into the melted syrup

⚖️ Variations

If you want to make the best sticky ginger cake recipe, here are some different variations you can try:

• Zesty – for an extra warming taste, you can stir citrus zests like lemon and orange zest as I do in my boil and simmer cake
• Fruity – instead of ginger, try stirring in mixed peel, cherries, cranberries, dates, raisins, sultanas, etc. Or stir in some ready made mincemeat
• Festive – try poking holes in the cake while cooling, then feed it with a few teaspoons of ginger wine, rum, brandy, etc
• Nutty – add some chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds slices, etc
• Ginger wine iced topping – mix 2 tablespoon of ginger wine with 180g of icing sugar, then pour onto the cake once cooled
• Kid-friendly – if you think stem ginger may be too much of a kick for young tastebuds, you can leave it out. However, next time, you may want to increase the ground ginger by ½ tbsp

🔪 Equipment

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• 2lb loaf tin – or 2 x 1lb loaf tins
• 2lb loaf liner – or baking paper
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Chopping knife
• Chopping board
• Wire rack

❄️ Storage

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Storing – we prefer eating homemade ginger cake after storing it for a couple of days in a cake tin at room temperature. But it can last up to 7 days in an airtight container.

Freezing – cool to room temperature and store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Heating – If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave a slice for 30 seconds and serve with hot custard or melty ginger ice cream

💡Pro Tips

• If you avoid a small pan to melt the sugars, syrups, and butter, you can use a larger pan as a mixing bowl too
• Instead of a 2lb loaf tin, you can divide the mixture and make 2 x 1lb loaf cakes and share one as a gift, or eat one now, save the other the flavours to meld
• Avoid using a small saucepan while melting the butter, sugar, and treacle as you can also use it as a large bowl to mix your sticky Jamaican ginger cake in
• While melting butter and sugar mix, scrape the bottom of the pan to test if you can feel grit at the bottom. If you can, then the sugar has not dissolved yet!
• Do not boil the syrup mixture while melting with the butter and sugar as you would be essentially making toffee. This can result in a hard, dry cake. Try opting for low to medium heat at a push
• If you don’t want to wait for your Jamaican cake to turn sticky, you can speed things up by brushing the entire cake with ginger syrup that comes with stem ginger while the cake cools. Or use maple syrup if more accessible
• To prevent your cake from turning too brown in the oven, place it on a lower oven shelf where the top meets the middle (although you may need to increase the cooking time) and cover the top of the cake with tinfoil once you’re happy with its rich dark golden brown colour
• To avoid lumps in the cake batter, sift the flour, bicarb, and spices and patiently stir in a little bit at a time by hand or into a bowl of a stand mixer
• If you don’t have a loaf tin liner or baking parchment to line your loaf tin, I recommend greasing a non-stick cake tin well and ideally one with a removable base
• To find out whether your cake has finished baking, insert a skewer into the centre and it should come out clean. If not, keep baking in 10-minute increments and check again
• For a more even bake, you could dissolve your baking soda in 1 tablespoon (15 ml of water) before adding it to the batter so that it is evenly dispersed with the rest of the ingredients

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

This Jamaican ginger cake is delicious on its own, but you can also serve it with some other treats to make it even more special:

A cup of tea – it’s perfect to wash away the spicy sugars, especially a cup of spiced chai or a fragrant Earl Grey for an afternoon tea treat after an array of sandwiches

Butter – enjoy cold with a spread of butter or brandy butter, or spread and pan fry, or grill gently, then butter it

Custard – warm up in the microwave and served with hot or custard, which is perfect in the colder months. Custard is particularly great if your cake is a little on the dry side

Ice cream – heat up and enjoy with a drizzle of single cream (half and half), whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Ginger trifle – it is particularly luxurious when replacing plain sponge in this pear and ginger trifle for a festive treat

Buttercream – serve with a ginger buttercream by whisking 1.5 tablespoon ground ginger into a classic vanilla buttercream and spread on top or decorate with a piping bag

❓ FAQ

➕ More Afternoon Tea Recipes

Looking to make an array of delicious cakes for a gathering, a gift or an indulgent treat at home? Why not try some of our favourite cakes:

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