Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

I have made this cake many times in the past, but not for a long time.

Its from Nigellas Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame and like most Nigella Lawson recipe is pretty hard to mess up.

This cakes is wonderful and moist and everyone goes nuts over it.

The only thing I would say is, everytime I have made this cake I have used molasses and this time I couldn't find it so I used treacle and it wasn't as moist as it has been in the past.

FOR THE CAKE

175g unsalted butter

125g dark muscovado sugar

2 tablespoons caster sugar

200g golden syrup

200g black treacle or molasses
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbs warm water
2 eggs

250ml milk

275g plain flour

40g cocoa

175g chocolate chips

FOR THE ICING
150g icing sugar
30g unsalted butter
1 tbs cocoa
60ml ginger ale

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Tear off a big piece of baking parchment to line the bottom and sides of a roasting pan of approximately 30 x 20 x 5 cm deep.

In a decent-sized saucepan, melt the butter along with the sugars, golden syrup, treacle or molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ground ginger.

In a cup dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water.

Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and bicarb in its water.

Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix.

Fold in the chocolate chips and pour into the lined tin.

Bake for about 45 minutes until risen and firm.

It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it.Remove to a wire rack and let cool in the tin.

Once cool, sieve the icing sugar.

In a saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and ginger ale.

When the butter's melted, whisk in the icing sugar.

Pour the icing just to cover the top.

S