The BloggerAid cookbook

If you've not heard of BloggerAid you should head over to their page and take a look. They are a group of food bloggers who are committed to fighting world famine. How? By raising awareness, holding fund-raisers, drawing media attention and now in their biggest and most ambitious project yet, by writing a cookbook.The project was unveiled by Ivy of Kopiaste.. to Greek Hospitality , Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen and Val of More Than Burnt Toast and in their words "We have announced our largest fundraiser to date ever!!!! ..., we will be publishing a cookbook with 100% of the profit from sales being directed to our chosen agency. The funds we raise will be directed to specific programs of The World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations frontline agency. The needs are great and choosing a specific effort is currently being negotiated."

And YOU can contribute! but you'll have to be quick, the deadline is the 12th of February, that's tomorrow!

"The cookbook is targeted for sale on Amazon by November/December 2009. There is a great deal of work involved in delivering this project and we will rely on you to help in any way you can. We will keep you informed every step of the way on Bloggeraid !!!!"

I thought it was a great Idea and definitely want to be a part of it, if you do too click here!
My submission to the cookbook is a pear and ginger upside down cake, it's a twist on one of my favourite childhood cakes, pineapple upside cake. I was inspired to make this as the weather here is very cold at the moment. In fact it's the coldest winter we've had in 20 years so I was aiming for a really warming, spicy cake. I scored a hit with this recipe, sticky, spicy and moist, perfect! I chose to submit this recipe because it's quite simple, the ingredients are widely available and I think everyone will love this cake.

I can't share the recipe here as they are exclusively for the cookbook, so if you want the recipe you'll have to buy the book!

Nigel Slater's Ginger Cake

I don't think there is any cake as suited to winter as ginger cake, a slice of this dark, sticky, spicy cake is just what I want when it's cold and dark outside. Ginger cake is quite an old fashioned cake, the kind your Grandma might make. It doesn't look much, in fact it looks positively dull but looks can be deceiving, just wait until you taste it!This version by Nigel Slater contains both ground and stem ginger so it has a real spicy kick to it, the Golden Syrup is what makes this cake so sticky and delicious. What I really like about it is that it only gets better over time, it's hard to resist taking a slice right away but if you can I would recommend that you leave it at least one day in an airtight tin before cutting in to it.I would like to try this recipe again substituting the golden syrup for treacle/molasses to make an even darker cake, lemon zest would make a great addition too.

Recipe (Original here)

250g self-raising flour
2 level tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
200g golden syrup
2 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar
125g butter
3 lumps of stem ginger in syrup (about 55g)
2 heaped tbsp sultanas
125g dark muscavado sugar
2 large eggs
240ml milk

You will need a square cake tin measuring approximately 20-22cm, lined on the bottom with baking or greaseproof paper.

Set the oven at 180°C/gas mark 3. Sieve the flour with the ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and the salt. Put the golden and ginger syrups and the butter into a small saucepan, and warm over a low heat. Dice the ginger finely then add it to the pan with the sultanas and sugar. Let the mixture bubble gently for a minute, giving it the occasional stir to stop the fruit sticking to the bottom.

Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk and beat gently to break up the egg and mix it into the milk. Remove the butter and sugar mixture from the heat and pour into the flour, stirring smoothly and firmly with a large metal spoon. Mix in the milk and eggs. The mixture should be sloppy, with no trace of flour.

Scoop the mixture into the non-stick or lined cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. Unless you are serving it warm, leave the cake in its tin to cool, then tip out on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Wrap it up again in foil and leave to mature for a day or two before eating.