Ingredients

225g/8oz margarine, softened
175g/6oz light muscovado or golden caster sugar
200g/7oz black treacle
200g/7oz Shipton Mill Organic 100% Wholemeal Flour (205)
100g/3.5oz Shipton Mill Organic Self-raising White Flour (113)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar* (*or 4 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger* (*or 1 tsp of ginger paste/grated fresh ginger – to taste)
2-4 pieces stem ginger* from a jar, chopped coarsely (*or crystallised stem ginger)
4 free-range eggs
4 tbsp milk

Method

1. Grease a 30x23x4cm/12x9x1½in traybake tin or roasting tin. Place a large rectangle of non-stick baking parchment that generously covers the base and sides. Push the parchment neatly into the corners of the tin.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
3. Place the ingredients into a large bowl. Beat well with an electric mixer, or by hand with a wooden spoon, for about two minutes until well blended. You could add a little more milk if the mixture appears too thick.
4. Turn all the mixture into the tin. Level the top gently with the back of the spatula.
5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the traybake springs back when pressed lightly with a finger in the centre and is beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
6. Allow the traybake to cool a little, then remove the cake from the tin by easing the paper away from the sides of the tin. Turn onto a cooling rack, remove the lining paper and leave to cool completely.
7. I brushed the surface with a thin layer of slightly diluted stem ginger syrup, poured into a small bowl from the jar and added a couple of tsp of water (coat surface in the way you would do for a lemon drizzle cake). In her version, Mary Berry makes an icing with the syrup containing the stem ginger pieces too.

TIP: To avoid the surface burning and it becoming dry, keep an eye on it so you don’t overcook!

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves Makes 15-20 slices