Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

This is a real autumn, early winter recipe.  Reminiscent of the cakes your Granny used to bake it's the perfect treat whilst stoking the bonfire or for serving with a cup of tea whilst tidying the garden on a Sunday afternoon.  Bake mid-week for weekend eating, it gets stickier if left in an air-tight tin for a day or two before eating.

 

INGREDIENTS

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125 g butter

100 g golden syrup

125 g black treacle

75 g soft brown sugar

125 plain flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tea ground cinnamon

Pinch sea salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 large eggs, beaten

3 tbsp milk

50 g crystalised ginger

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Heat the oven to 170 degrees C.  Line a 23 cm shallow, square tin with baking parchment.

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Sift the flour, spices & salt into a mixing bowl.  

Place the butter in a small saucepan & heat until just melted.  Remove from the heat, add the sugar & stir until dissolved.  Add the golden syrup, black treacle & stir again to combine.

 

Add the beaten eggs together with the treacle mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.

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Using scissors, snip the crystalised (or stem) ginger into tiny pieces.  Turn the mixture into the prepared tin & sprinkle the crystalised ginger over the top.

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Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-30 minutes until the top is firm & a skewer comes away clean when inserted into the centre.

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When cooked, leave in the tin to cool for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.  When completely cool use a large, sharp knife to cut into 12 or 16 squares depending on your preferred portion size.