Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C / Gas Mark 4) Prepare the bundt tin by generously greasing it with butter. It is important to ensure that all of the creases are covered in butter to help with the easy release of the cake after baking. To make sure that you grease thoroughly you could use your hand or a pastry brush.

In a bowl cream together the softened butter and sugars until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy in texture. This might take a few minutes.

Gradually add the eggs one by one to the mixture, stirring in between each addition. Add a tablespoon of flour with each egg to prevent to mixture from looking as though it has curdled. Add the treacle in with the addition of the last egg. 

In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices until they are evenly distributed. Then gently fold these into the wet mixture being careful not to knock out any of the air that you have just created in the mixture.

Spoon the cake batter into the bundt tin, smooth the surface flat and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until springy to touch and baked throughout. 

Once the cake is baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before you carefully turn it out onto a wire cooling rack. Leave the cake to fully cool before decorating.

To make the cinnamon icing, mix together the icing sugar, cinnamon and a few drops of water to create an icing with a thick consistency. You can gradually add more water if needed to loosen the icing. 

Using a teaspoon quickly flick lines of icing across the bundt cake to give a drizzle effect. Finish the decoration with a few strips of orange peel.