Gingerbread Traybake

A spiced traybake cake with ginger buttercream and mini gingerbread men biscuits

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Traybake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 15

Servings

Calories 644kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

In a pan gently heat the golden syrup, set it aside to cool for 5 minutes
Put the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, and butter into a bowl and rub the mixture together with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs and there are no big lumps of butter
Add the ground ginger, mixed spice, and light brown sugar and stir them in
Pour the milk and golden syrup into the flour mixture, then mix until a dough forms. Wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge
Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and line a baking tray with baking paper
Roll the dough out onto a mat or your work surface, dusted with flour, and cut out the mini gingerbread men shapes (I used a cutter that is 2" tall and 1.5" wide)
Place your cut out pieces onto the lined baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes and golden brown all over
Let them cool on the tray for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack as the biscuit will be very delicate when hot, then let them cool fully on cooling racks
Mix the icing sugar with a splash of water and stir to create a thick paste. Put into a piping bag and decorate the gingerbread men with little faces and buttons if you like
If you make any extra that don't make it onto the cake, store them in an airtight container and eat within 5 days

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and grease and line a 12" x 9" traybake tin
Melt the butter, golden syrup, light brown sugar and black treacle together in a pan on a low heat. Once it is all melted and combined, leave to cool for 10 minutes
Whisk the eggs and milk together in a mixing bowl
Slowly pour the butter and syrup mixture into the eggs, whisking as you pour, until everything is combined
In another bowl, stir together the self raising flour, ground ginger and mixed spice
Slowly pour the egg and butter mixture into the flour, whisking as your pour, until everything is combined
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool fully

Use an electric hand whisk to mix together the butter, ground ginger and icing sugar, when they start to come together, add the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. You can also add a splash of milk if it is too thick
Spread the frosting on top of the sponge
The buttercream will make the biscuits go soft, so add the biscuits right before serving, or serve alongside the cake
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place, and eat within 3 days

If you'd like to make this in a 8" or 9" square tin, here are the ingredients:

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.

I really recommend using light brown soft sugar if you can for the cake, but if you can't get hold of it, caster sugar will work well too.

Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .

For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.