You’ll love this delicious golden syrup loaf cake–it’s the perfect sweet treat!
Learn how easy it is to make an old-fashioned golden syrup cake with this simple recipe.
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This delicious golden syrup cake recipe is going to be one of your new favorite sweet treats!
Made with golden syrup, butter, sugars, egg, and flour, it’s a sponge cake that bakes up in a loaf tin, making it perfect to serve alongside a cup of tea or coffee!
I love loaf cakes because they’re no-frills, easy treats to make. They satisfy your sweet tooth without requiring a lot of effort, and this golden syrup loaf cake is no exception!
It can be enjoyed warm or cold, but my favorite way is to warm a slice in the microwave for about ten seconds.
More Delicious Sweet Treats:
- Walker’s Scottish Shortbread Copycat Recipe
- Decadent Stroopwafel Cake
- Easy Biscoff Muffins
- Easy Vanilla Custard Cake
- Swedish Dream Cookies
- White Forest Cake Recipe
What is Golden Syrup?
Golden syrup is a thick, amber-colored syrup made from sugar cane. It’s also sometimes called “light treacle.”
The refining process turns it into an invert sugar, which means it will not recrystallize upon cooling. This helps to lend perfectly moist and tender texture to baked goods.
It has a sweet, depth of flavor other syrups don’t always have. It’s thicker than maple syrup, but more flavorful than corn syrup.
It’s popular in England and Scotland and is frequently used in various dessert recipes. It’s not as readily available in the United States, but you can find it in some supermarkets and here on Amazon.
How to Make this Easy Golden Syrup Cake
It’s really quite easy to make a delicious golden syrup loaf cake with this simple recipe.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar (or caster sugar)
- Golden syrup (I use Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
- Large egg
- Milk
- Self-rising flour
How to Make It:
Melt butter and sugars. To start, you’ll combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and golden syrup in a saucepan on the stove.
Heat this golden syrup mixture over medium heat, just until butter is melted and sugars are dissolved.
You don’t want to boil the mixture, you just don’t want it to be grainy. If it starts to boil, decrease to low heat.
Combine wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mix together egg and milk. You can mix the egg mixture by hand with a wooden spoon or use an electric mixer.
Add flour. Add the self-raising flour to the milk mixture, mixing just until smooth.
Add sugar mixture. Now you’ll add slightly cooled melted butter and sugar mixture to the batter, mixing until fully incorporated.
Bake. Pour the batter into a prepared tin (I sprayed mine with baking spray, but you could also use loaf tin liners or line with parchment paper).
I use an 8×4″ loaf pan, also commonly known as a 1 lb loaf tin.
Bake at 350F for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top of the cake is turning golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Add syrup soak. While the cake is still warm, use a toothpick or cake tester to poke several holes all over the cake.
Combine 2 TBSP golden syrup with 1 TBSP hot water, and drizzle or brush this mixture over the cake, allowing it to soak into the holes.
Cool cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for about an hour, then transfer to a serving board or plate to cool completely prior to serving. This moist golden syrup cake is delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
Notes and Adaptations for Old Fashioned Golden Syrup Cake:
- While this cake is delicious on the day it is prepared, it tastes even better after a day or two! This allows the flavors to deepen even more.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container. I store mine at room temperature for no more than two days, but you can keep it in the refrigerator as well.
- If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can make your own using plain flour (all-purpose flour).
- You can omit the syrup soak if you’d like.
- If freezing, double-wrap cooled loaf in cling film prior to freezing.
- You can make this recipe in an 8-inch cake tin if you don’t have a loaf pan. Start checking it at 40-45 minutes of baking.
- Feel free to add some lemon zest or orange zest to adjust the flavor a bit. You can also add chopped nuts to the cake batter if you’d like!
- If you can’t find golden syrup, you could try using honey or light corn syrup as a substitute, though the flavor will differ slightly.
- This cake would be a nice sweet treat following a Scotch pie!
Recommended Equipment:
Golden Syrup Cake
Moist and tender, with the perfect amount of sweetness, this golden syrup cake is sure to become a tradition in your home.
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 TBSP granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup golden syrup
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
- For the Syrup Soak:
- 2 TBSP golden syrup
- 1 TBSP hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Combine butter, brown and white sugars, and golden syrup in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted and sugars have dissolved (do not boil). Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add egg and milk, mixing by hand or with an electric mixer to combine.
- Add self-rising flour to the milk mixture, mixing just until smooth and combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, mix in the sugar mixture until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is still warm, use a toothpick to gently poke holes all over the cake.
- Mix together 2 TBSP golden syrup with 1 TBSP hot water to create the syrup soak. Brush or drizzle this mixture over the surface of the cake, allowing it to seep into the holes and soak into the cake.
- Let cake rest for about an hour, then carefully release from pan and transfer to serving board or plate. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Although you can eat this cake once it's cooled, it tastes even better if you wait a day or two before enjoying!
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 282Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 227mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 0gSugar: 25gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.
Need another easy breakfast idea? Try our sausage balls made without Bisquick!
Be sure to save this recipe for later by adding it to your favorite board on Pinterest!