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Orange, ginger and allspice cake

A wonderful winter tea-time treat, packed with warm, spicy, aromatic flavours. Or serve it still warm from the oven, with cream, as a pud. Makes one 23cm cake. From Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

180g self-raising flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground allspice
180g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
180g caster sugar
3 eggs
60g stem ginger, chopped
Juice of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
For the syrup
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of ½ lemon
3 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar
1 pinch ground allspice
2 tbsp demerara sugar

Grease a 23cm-diameter loose-bottomed cake tin, line with baking parchment and butter the parchment. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Sift the flour, ginger, baking powder and allspice into a bowl. In a stand mixer or with a hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. (If it looks as if it's going to curdle, add a tablespoon of flour with the last egg.) Gently fold in the rest of the flour, then stir in the stem ginger, orange juice and orange zest.

Spoon into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 25-30 minutes, until risen and golden, and a skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup. In a small pan, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, ginger syrup and pinch of allspice. Warm through and let it steam gently for five minutes. When you take the cake out of the oven, prick it all over with a skewer and trickle the syrup over the top. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar, leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, then remove and leave on a rack to cool completely