This recipe is based on the traditional Yorkshire ginger cake of my childhood.
125g of plain flour, 125g of self-raising flour, half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda, one heaped tablespoonful of dried ginger, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and mixed spice, 100g of unsalted butter, 75g of molasses or black treacle, 75g of corn syrup or golden syrup, 75g of honey, 100g of light or dark muscovado sugar, 300ml of milk, a tablespoonful of fresh ginger (grated), three eggs (lightly beaten).
Line and grease a one-kilo loaf-tin. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/180 C. Sift the dry ingredients together. Rub in the butter. Melt the molasses, syrup and honey. Dissolve the sugar in the milk, heating it gently. Allow it to cool, and then add the liquids to the dry ingredients. Add the ginger and the eggs.
Pour the cake batter, which should be very loose, into the prepared loaf-tin, leaving about 2.5cm for the cake to rise. Any extra mixture can be baked in a couple of small ramekins and served as a warm pudding. Bake the cake for 45-60 minutes. Leave it to cool completely in the tin, then wrap it in greaseproof paper and foil. The cake keeps well and freezes.