Course: Main
Servings: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 63 minutes

Ingredients:

• Shetland butter - 190 grams (room temperature)
• Caster sugar - 190 grams
• Free range eggs - 3
• Plain flour - 190 grams
• Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
• Ground ginger - 2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Shetland Dairies buttermilk - 1 tbsp
• Honey - 1.5 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Sultanas - 80 grams (optional)
• Icing sugar - (to sieve, optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C (Fan oven) and grease or line a 2 lb loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Make sure it is really nice and soft.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one. If the mixture curdles keep going, Siân says it will be fine!
4. Sift in flour, spices, baking powder and salt. Stir until well combined.
5. Fold in sultanas, if using, and spoon into prepared loaf tin, smoothing over the top with a spatula.
6. Bake for 23 minutes, loosely cover with tin foil and bake for a further 40 minutes (this is in Siân's oven - my conventional oven took a further 10 minutes to bake). The top will be golden and a skewer, when inserted, will come out clean.
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and sieve with icing sugar if desired. Eat warm, but leftovers will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight container.
8. Add buttermilk, honey and vanilla and mix well.

Add chopped nuts if you like, or nutmeg and orange zest for a Christmas taste, replacing the honey with black treacle.