Luscious vegan gingerbread

I am preposterously proud of this squidgy gingerbread, and I don’t mind who knows it. It’s everything you want out of gingerbread – sticky, spicy, deeply aromatic – and you would never miss the butter or eggs. Warning: ideally you need to make this at least a day before you plan to eat it. Harsh, I know.

CUTS INTO 12-18 slabs PREP 20 mins COOK 1 hr EASY V

150ml vegetable oil

200g golden syrup

200g black treacle

125g dark muscovado sugar

75g pitted soft prunes (about 8), finely chopped

30g ginger, peeled and grated

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground allspice

pinch of ground cloves

¼ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp fine sea salt

250ml oat milk

300g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp cider vinegar vegan clotted cream, blanched almonds, caramel sauce or maple syrup, and pomegranate seeds, to serve (optional)

1 Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 31/2. Line the base and sides of a 23cm square tin with baking parchment. 2 Tip the oil into a jug, then pour into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, about 22cm wide. Measure the golden syrup and treacle into the oily jug – this will prevent them sticking, so they’ll pour easily. Pour into the saucepan.

3 Tip in the sugar, prunes and ginger, then sprinkle in the dried spices, pepper and salt, and warm over a low heat, whisking to combine. Be careful not to overmix – you don’t want to add a lot of air to the mixture.

4 Once everything is melted and combined, remove the pan from the heat – it should be warm at this stage, rather than boiling hot. Add the oat milk, whisking gently until completely incorporated.

5 Whisk in the flour in three or four additions, being sure to whisk out any lumps as you go. This will take a few minutes. The only lumps you should see when all the flour has been incorporated are the little bits of prune – these will melt into the gingerbread as it bakes. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 2 tbsp warm water in a large mug, then add the vinegar and quickly whisk the fizzing mixture into the pan.

6 Carefully pour the gingerbread batter into the prepared tin, and bake for 50-55 mins. Check it after 45 mins. It may look cooked after this time, but as it’s so moist, a cake tester won’t be a good indicator, as you’d expect some crumbs to stick to it. Take it out of the oven and touch the top quickly; if cooked, the gingerbread should bounce back a bit under your fingers.

7 Leave the gingerbread to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack. But, don’t eat as soon as it’s cold

– once cooled, wrap the tin in a double layer of baking parchment, then put in an airtight container, and leave to stand for a day or two before cutting into it. This will help enchance the flavours. Cut into 12-18 thick slabs and serve as is, or top with clotted cream, almonds, caramel sauce and pomegranate seeds, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW vegan

PER SERVING (18) 242 kcals • fat 9g • saturates 1g • carbs 38g • sugars 24g • fibre 1g • protein 2g • salt 0.4g