We've always loved gingerbread - Horsham was famous for it in the 19th Century - and were keen to see how our flour worked for baking. I've had a go with cheese scones and they were delicious so with a wet weekend promised thought I'd have a go at a gingerbread cake. Our flour is proving to be wonderfully versatile and I'm really pleased with how it baked and tastes (realise we may be a little biased). My first attempt was a bit sweet for us so I reduced the sugar and am delighted with how version 2 came out - look forward to hearing how you get on. Joanne

Trenchmore Gingerbread

175 gm butter - salted or add a pinch of salt
125 gm dark muscovado sugar
125 gm syrup from stem ginger or golden syrup
125 gm molasses or black treacle
3 rounded tsp ginger - ground spice or grated fresh
2 rounded tsp ground cinnamon
5 pieces stem ginger (or crystallised ginger) chopped. Optional - depends how much you like ginger! I think this adds to the cake - they form a layer on the bottom, or top if you serve it as an upside down cake.
275 ml milk
2 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs beaten
350 gm wholewheat flour

Roasting tin 30 x 20 x 5 cm - greased and lined (wish I'd lined mine!)
Preheat oven to 170C

Melt butter, sugar, syrup, molasses with gingers and cinnamon in a med/large pan. Remove from the heat. Mix bicarbonate with a little of the milk and add to the pan (it will bubble up) then add the remaining milk and eggs.

To a large mixing bowl add flour and then the gingery syrup liquid and beat well until thoroughly mixed. (If your pan is large enough you could add the weighed flour to the saucepan - reduced washing up;).

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour until firm to touch and slightly shrunken from the sides. It will carry on cooking in the tin and should be still slightly sticky.

Cool in the tin - cut into slices or squares. Store in an airtight tin or cover with foil, best the day after baking and will last 5 days. Also a delicious dessert warmed with poached apples or pears and custard or cream. Let us know what you think.

Trenchmore Heritage - we're really pleased with the stoneground 100% wholewheat mill of our flour - a fine white with some texture from the wheat germ and bran - which adds a Parkin type quality to this cake.