Chilly Autumn days are the perfect time for sticky gingerbread. The comfort of sweet, warming spice marries beautifully with a hot cup of tea, for a perfect afternoon pick-me-up. This recipe also has the benefit of being very simple, and if you prefer, or are short on time, you can skip the decoration altogether – the cake will still be delicious. See below for how to make it vegan, too.

Ingredients:
– 200g butter
– 200g light muscovado sugar
– 200g treacle
– 300g self-raising flour
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 2 tsp ground ginger
– 1 tsp ground allspice
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 4 pieces stem ginger in syrup
– 3 eggs
– 250ml milk
To finish:
– 2 tbsp stem ginger syrup
– 50g icing sugar
– 1 tbsp orange juice
– 2 pieces chopped stem ginger and zest of half an orange, to finish (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, and grease and line a 20x20cm baking tin.

2. In a large saucepan, melt together the butter, sugar and treacle. Remove from the heat, then stir in the flour, baking powder and spices.

3. Beat in the stem ginger, eggs and milk, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. It will be quite liquid, so don’t worry! Bake for 1hr-1hr 10mins, until the top of the sponge feels springy to the touch.

4. Remove from the oven and, while the cake is still hot, drizzle over the stem ginger syrup. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

5. One the cake has cooled, remove from the tin. Mix the icing sugar and orange juice to form a runny icing, then drizzle it over the cake. Scatter with the chopped stem ginger and orange zest, then cut into twelve pieces.

Tip: To make it vegan, use dairy-free spread in place of the butter. Omit the eggs and milk and replace with 350g soya yogurt. This cake also works well with gluten-free self-raising flour.