Gingercake bites

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160 ̊C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the cake/baking tin with butter and baking paper.
2. Mix the flour, bicarb, ground ginger, mixed spice and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Put the butter, treacle, brown sugar and ginger syrup in a small pan. Heat gently until melted and combined (don’t let it boil).
3. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the warm syrup mixture, followed by the eggs. Stir until combined, then stir in the milk and chopped stem ginger. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with just a few damp crumbs.
4. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for around 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Once the cake is cool, cut it into 3cm cubes. You can leave the tops as they are if you’re happy for the bites to be a little uneven (as the cake will have domed while baking), or trim the tops too (and eat them) to make perfect cubes. Sit the cubes of cake spaced out on a wire rack over a baking tray, with the base of the cake on the bottom.
6. For the decoration, sift the fondant icing sugar into a large bowl, then whisk in just enough of the hot water to make a thick pouring consistency (you want the icing to flow slowly but easily over the cakes – you nearly always need less water than you think). Add the lemon zest and stir.
7. Spoon the icing over the cakes, allowing it to drip down over the sides so they’re thinly and evenly coated. You may need to collect up the icing that’s dripped into the tray, scraping it back into the bowl, to cover the final few cakes. Top each with some crystallised ginger. Set aside at room temperature for 20-30 minutes to set. Spritz with some edible shimmer for added sparkle.