Makes 2 small loaves

Pain d’épice is the French version of our ginger loaf cake. I love it lightly toasted, spread with lots of creamy butter for breakfast. Here I’ve given it a British makeover with the rich molasses flavour of treacle and pieces of stem ginger and candied mixed peel. It will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

Butter, for greasing
150g rye flour
150g 00 flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground mixed spice
150g treacle
150g Greek thyme honey
150ml milk
4 large eggs
60g light soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 balls of stem ginger, finely diced
30g chopped mixed candied peel

1 Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 2. Grease and line the base and sides of two 450g loaf tins. Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and spices twice into a mixing bowl. Gently dissolve the treacle and honey in the milk over a low heat. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2 Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk for about 10 minutes on a high speed until pale, thick and glossy and tripled in volume. The mixture should leave a trail on the surface.

3 Mix the vanilla into the milk mixture. With the motor running on a low speed, gradually pour in the milk mixture until evenly blended. Remove the bowl from the food processor and carefully fold in the sifted flours, until the mixture is lump-free. Finally, fold in the stem ginger and candied peel.

4 Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tins and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until well risen and a skewer comes out clean and dry when inserted into the middle. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before cutting into slices

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