Dark chocolate chunks run through the sponge to give you a melt-in-the-mouth surprise, while the ground cinnamon and ginger, plus chopped stem ginger in syrup provide some extra spice.
The traybake is topped with seasonal fruit: some sliced apples with a sprinkling of demerara sugar for a light crunch. The recipe is free from dairy and eggs making it suitable for vegans and makes for a comforting Autumnal pudding, delicious served warm with oat crème fraîche or cream.
Ingredients
- 200g plain flour
- 1 ½tsp bicarb of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 150g coconut oil
- 150g dark brown sugar
- 80g diced stem ginger in syrup
- 85g dark chocolate finely chopped into flakes
- 180ml sparkling water
- 5 small apples, peeled and cored
- 1 tbsp demerara sugar
Method
1. Line a 20 x 20cm tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients, saving 1 tsp of ground ginger for later.
3. Melt the coconut oil and brown sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat, then stir through the diced ginger.
4. Mix the melted oil, sugar and ginger with the dry ingredients until combined. Then stir through the chopped chocolate and pour in the sparkling water. Mix everything until you have a smooth cake batter.
5. Cut your apples into 1cm slices. Pour the cake batter into the tin evenly then decorate the top by layering the sliced apples. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of the ginger syrup then sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of ground ginger and the demerara sugar over the top.
6. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the skewer comes out clear. Either serve while it’s still warm or once it’s cooled with your favourite creamy side, I like oat crème fraîche.
