Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf + "Top Chef"

There are shows and series I adore but never have the time to watch; “Top Chef” is one of them – I watched the first season back in the day but then never got to watch the following seasons, therefore it’s been wonderful to watch the reruns at Sony for the past months.

* spoilers – seasons 1 through 7 *

Apart from Howard, which I thought truly deserved winning “Top Chef”, I did not like all the other winners, up to season 7; by the end of each season I would promise myself not to watch the following season, but I guess that some TV shows are like bad habits we can’t quit. :)
For some reason Sony went from season 5 to 7, so I can’t comment on Voltaggio, but watching the season 7 finale a couple of days ago made me dislike Ilan even more (I was team Sam) while at the same time Hung grew on me – to watch him work like a horse to help someone else was really cool.
And you? Do you think the “Top Chef” wins have been fair? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.

* end of spoilers *

Like pears apples are at their best now, in the fall, therefore this delicious gingerbread loaf could not wait until the end of the year to be part of my Christmas series; the loaf was easy to make and tasted even better two days later.

Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf
from the absolutely beautiful Delicious - Australia

2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter
150g soft dark brown sugar
½ cup minus 1 tablespoon (150g) golden syrup – I used corn syrup
200ml whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (75g) pecans, roughly chopped
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm (½in) pieces

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 1.5l loaf pan*, line with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat combine the butter, sugar, and syrup and stir until melted. Stir through the milk and vanilla and allow to cool.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the cooled milk mixture. Mix until smooth, then fold in the eggs, pecans, crystallized ginger and apple.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack to cool completely (peel off the paper after the cake has cooled, because it’s too soft while warm).

* I made the exact recipe above but there was too much batter for the 1.5l pan; I ended up baking the excess batter in a 4-cup capacity loaf pan

Serves 10-12