This is such a wonderful Mary Berry classic recipe, especially good at Christmas as it fills the house with the smell of Christmas spices.
Don’t be too worried if the traybake dips in the centre – it means you were a little generous with the treacle.
MAKES 15–20 SLICES
225g (8 oz) butter, softened
175g (6 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) black treacle
300g (11 oz) self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground allspice
4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
3 bulbs stem ginger from a jar, finely chopped
ICING
75g (3 oz) icing sugar, sifted
about 2 tbsp stem ginger syrup from the jar
2 bulbs stem ginger, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350F/180ºC. Line a small roasting tin about 30 × 23cm (12 × 9 in) with foil and grease well.
Measure all the ingredients for the cake into a large bowl and beat well for about 2 minutes until well blended. Pour into the prepared tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little. Lift cake in foil case out of the tin to cool completely.
To make the icing, mix together the icing sugar and syrup. Pour over the cake while still warm, and sprinkle with the chopped stem ginger. If preferred, dust with sifted icing sugar.
PREPARING AHEAD – Make up to 2 days ahead, and ice on the day. If you want to freeze, leave whole, un-iced, wrap in foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw for about 6 hours at room temperature, then ice and cut into 15–20 squares.