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Dark treacly gingerbread squares

The strong, almost bitter, flavour of treacle goes so well with the equally strong taste of ginger. The bitterness is mellowed with the brown sugar, while the treacle, along with the milk, makes this cake lovely and moist. The finished squares will keep for up to 10 days if stored in an airtight container.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 20–25 minutes

Ready in: 1 hour

Makes: 16 large or 25 smaller squares

75g (3oz) butter, plus extra for greasing

100g (3½oz) soft dark brown sugar

175g (6oz) black treacle

150ml (5fl oz) milk

1 egg

225g (8oz) plain flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

20cm (8in) square cake tin with 5cm (2in) sides

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. If the cake tin has a removable base, butter the sides and line the base with a square of baking parchment, otherwise line the base and sides of the tin.

Place the butter, brown sugar and treacle in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir together until melted and combined, then remove from the heat and whisk in the milk, followed by the egg. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Sift the flour, ground ginger, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the wet ingredients and mix together thoroughly, beating the mixture with a wooden spoon just until it comes together, and making sure there are no lumps of flour.

Tip the batter into the tin and bake for 20–25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cake and leave on a wire rack to cool down fully before placing on a chopping board and cutting into either 16 large squares or 25 smaller ones.

Dark treacly gingerbread loaf

Line the base and sides of a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment before tipping in the cake mixture. Baked like this, the cake will take about an hour to cook. Once cooled, cut into slices and spread with butter to serve.