Mary Berry Gingerbread Traybake

Mary Berry's gingerbread traybake is a dark, sticky, warmly spiced gingerbread with a lemon glacé icing — a classic British bake at its most generous.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 2 55

Servings: 20 Squares

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Calories: 270

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Gingerbread:
250 g unsalted butter cubed
250 g soft dark brown sugar
250 g black treacle
250 g golden syrup
400 ml whole milk
3 large eggs beaten
450 g plain flour sifted
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water
Lemon Glacé Icing:
200 g icing sugar sifted
3 –4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Zest of ½ unwaxed lemon

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C / 140°C fan / Gas 3. Grease and line a 33x23cm tin with parchment overhang.
Melt butter, dark brown sugar, treacle, and golden syrup in a large saucepan over medium-low heat — stir until smooth. Do not boil. Cool 10 minutes.
Add milk to cooled mixture — stir. Add beaten eggs — stir through.
Sift flour, ginger, mixed spice, and cinnamon into the liquid. Stir until completely smooth. Add dissolved bicarbonate of soda — stir through quickly. Batter will froth slightly.
Pour into tin — it flows into the corners. Bake 40–45 minutes until set and skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in tin — at least 2 hours.
Mix icing sugar and lemon juice to a smooth, flowing icing. Add lemon zest. Lift gingerbread from tin — pour icing over, spread to edges, let it drip. Set 20 minutes. Cut into squares.

Notes

Use black treacle — it gives the dark colour and slightly bitter depth that defines British gingerbread.

Cool treacle mixture before adding eggs — hot mixture partially scrambles them.

The batter is very liquid — this is correct and gives the characteristic dense, sticky texture.

Cool completely before cutting — at least 2 hours. Warm gingerbread is too soft to cut cleanly.

Make at least 1 day ahead — gingerbread improves dramatically over 2–3 days.

Freeze without icing for up to 3 months.