Spiced Rum Cake With Rum Caramel Sauce

Take the butter out of the fridge for an hour or so before you plan to start cooking, to allow it to come up to room temperature. When the butter is ready, preheat the oven to 160⁰C (Gas Mark 4), then use a little of the butter to lightly grease the insides of a 900g loaf tin. Cut a long strip of baking paper and use it to line the bottom and sort sides of the tin. Next, put the butter, sugar and molasses into a large mixing bowl and beat together until fluffy (an electric whisk is best for this). Crack the eggs into the bowl and whisk again to combine, then sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Add the ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, stem ginger, rum and salt, then use a spatula to gently fold it all in until fully combined. Pour the mix into the prepared tin, then put into the centre of the hot oven and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in its tin for at least 10 minutes before lifting it out and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If making the day ahead, wrap the cake tightly in greaseproof paper and keep it at room temperature until needed.

You can make the caramel sauce while the cake is cooling; sprinkle the golden caster sugar across the base of a non-stick frying pan, then place the pan on a medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has completely melted, then increase the heat and keep cooking, tilting and swirling the pan until the caramel is dark gold in colour. Carefully add the butter (it may spit a bit), then reduce the heat just slightly and pour in the cream and let the pan bubble away gently for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the rum, then take the pan off the heat.

To serve, cut thick slices of the cake, drizzle with the warm sauce and top with your choice of ice cream or cream and a few fresh strawberries. To barbecue, cut the cake into thick slices and place on a clean part of the grill (the ideal time to do this is after you’ve cooked your main meal and the coals are dying down). Cook the slices for about a minute on each side until lightly toasted, then brush them with a little of the caramel sauce. Serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream, a generous drizzle of the sauce and some fresh strawberries alongside.