Sticky ginger lemon drizzle cake

• butter↗140g 140g

  cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing

• self-raising flour↗300g 300g
• bicarbonate of soda↗1 tsp 1 tsp
• ground ginger↗4 tsp 4 tsp
• mixed spice2 tsp 2 tsp
• ground cinnamon↗1 tsp 1 tsp
• dark muscovado sugar↗140g 140g
• black treacle↗140g 140g
• golden syrup↗140g 140g
• whole milk↗300ml 300ml
• large egg↗1 1
• zest and juice 1 lemon
• granulated sugar↗50g 50g
• preserving sugar↗50g 50g

  or crushed sugar cubes

• about ½ jar good lemon curd
• balls stem ginger2

  diced

• syrup4 tbsp

  from the stem ginger jar

• soft cheese↗100g
• double cream↗200ml
• icing sugar↗3 tbsp

  sieved

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 160 °C (140 °C fan/gas 3). Grease and line a deep 20 cm round cake tin with parchment. Place the flour, bicarbonate and all spices in a food processor, add the butter and whisk until it disappears, then transfer to a mixing bowl (or rub the butter into the mixture with fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs).

2. 2

   Combine sugar, treacle, golden syrup and milk in a saucepan and heat, stirring gently, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bring the mixture just below boiling.

3. 3

   Pour the treacle mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Beat in the egg until the batter resembles a thick pancake batter. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in the tin.

4. 4

   Slice the cake horizontally in half. For the drizzle, stir the lemon zest and juice into the sugars, then immediately spoon over the top half of the cake.

5. 5

   For the filling, mix the lemon curd with diced ginger. For the icing, beat together the ginger syrup, soft cheese, cream and icing sugar until thick enough to hold its shape. Spread the lemon curd filling over the bottom cake layer, dollop the creamy icing on top, then sandwich with the other half of the cake. The unfilled ginger cake will keep well for 3‑4 days if wrapped tightly in parchment and foil.