Spiced gingerbread with caraway ice cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Place the butter, syrup and treacle in a saucepan and heat until melted. Leave on one side to cool.

4. Stir the milk and egg into the cooled syrup mixture, and pour everything into the dry ingredients - mix, to blend together and pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 45 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch.

4. For the ice cream, scald the milk, cream, vanilla and caraway in a saucepan.

5. While the creamy milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and creamy.

6. Remove the spiced milk mixture from the heat, strain and whisk into the egg mixture.

7. Return the custard to the heat. Cook gently over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.

8. Cool, and churn the custard in an ice cream machine for 30 minutes, or until it has set. Transfer to a freezer. You can also freeze the ice cream without a churner -all you have to do is give the mixture a good beat every hour or so while it is firming up. This helps break up any large ice crystals.

9. Slice the gingerbread, dust with icing sugar and serve with the caraway ice cream.