• Making time 40 minutes
• Preparation time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 150g golden syrup
• 150g black treacle
• 150g plain flour
• 150g wholemeal bread flour
• Four teaspoons ground ginger
• One teaspoon ground mixed spice
• One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Four tablespoons milk

For the topping

• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 125 exotic dried fruit, cut into strips
• One-piece stem ginger, drained and sliced

If there is anything that we need to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.

– Carl Jung

Preparation:

1. Put the butter treacle and syrup in a saucepan and heat gently, occasionally stirring until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
2. Mix all the dried ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Gradually mix in the syrup mixture then the eggs and milk and beat well until smooth.
3. Pour into a grease 1 kg loaf tin, its base and two long sides also lined with oiled greaseproof paper, bake in a preheated oven, 160⁰C, set a timer for 50-50 minutes until well risen, the top has cracked, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then loosen the edges and lift out of the tin using the lining paper, transfer to a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and allow to cool.
5. Spread the top of the cake with the apricot jam, then decorate with strips of exotic dried fruit and ginger.