Well.
This NEVER happens.
I photographed this gingerbread last Christmas, then in a whirlwind of sherry drinking, turkey cooking, birthdays, Christmas and falling asleep by the fire I neglected to post it. So here it is. An old-fashioned gingerbread.
It tastes more delicious than the simple recipe has any right to. Especially if you leave it wrapped up in a tin for a couple of days. It mellows and gets stickier and lovelier the longer you leave it.
There is a point at which this would cease to be true I’m sure. There must be a tipping point where it becomes more mouldy than lovely but I’ll leave you to work that out for yourself.
If it’s Christmas time (it is) you can lay a Christmassy shaped thing on the top of the gingerbread and dust it with icing sugar to make it look a bit festive. If I remember rightly I did this in the studio and got icing sugar everywhere. That’s probably why I never posted it, I was too busy hoovering the icing sugar up, or more likely just rubbing it into the corners with my fluffy Christmas slipper socks.
This recipe was from my friend Tina when it formed the instructions for Ambergate Carnival Cake Baking Competition 2008. That was the year Ed that entered the “Best Banana Cake Baked by A Man” and I entered ‘Best Gingerbread Cake Baked by A Woman”.
We both proudly won 1st prize which is partly due to our amazing cake baking skills (obviously) but mostly due to the fact that there were only about two entries. But them’s just details.
It’s winning that counts.
Things{we}make Gingerbread
2oz Golden Syrup
2oz Treacle
4oz Soft Brown Sugar
1 Level Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Large Egg – Beaten
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of Salt
4oz Butter
6oz Plain Flour
1.5 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
¼ Pint of Milk
Grease and line a 7 or 8″ square baking tin
Preheat oven to 150ºc
You can add some glacé ginger to the mix, which is lovely but tends to sink to the bottom.
- Gently melt the syrup, treacle, butter and brown sugar in a pan.
- Sift in the flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon.
- Stir in the beaten egg.
- Warm the milk and pour into a jug with the bicarbonate of soda – mix.
- Stir the warm milk/bicarb into the pan too.
- Pour the mix into the lined tin.
- Bake at 150ºc for 50-60 minutes – until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
- Ideally wrap up and leave in a tin for a day or two before you eat it.
shandryss
December 21, 2014
Looks great! Nice job with photography!
leahrennes
December 21, 2014
Lovely photo
rovinglights
December 21, 2014
Old fashioned gingerbread is just the BEST! The darker and stickier, the better. Looks delicious and the icing sugar is beautiful, what a lovely idea for presentation.
Ginger
December 21, 2014
I love the icing sugar patterns – genius!
mrsbigsi
December 21, 2014
Is it wrong that I could just eat a piece with custard?!
strawberrymintsays
December 21, 2014
Yum yum yum!!! Beautiful pics ,too 🙂
Beth Somers
December 21, 2014
Lovely recipe. I’m going to convert to US measures and give it a try with molasses in place of the golden syrup and treacle. Happy holidays!
peanutbutterandonion
December 22, 2014
Well worth the wait
Feast Wisely
December 22, 2014
Great recipe and just as good a year on!
thefolia
December 22, 2014
Wow two first prize winners under one nest–amazing! Happy Nesting.
mydearbakes
December 22, 2014
Great job with the bake! It looks fantastic! =)
missemzyy
December 22, 2014
Gorgeous!! Wish I was having a piece for afternoon tea! 🙂
AnnMyst
December 26, 2014
i love the look of the snowflakes. its a nice touch
IshitaUnblogged
December 27, 2014
Beautiful as always! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year:)
stephanieseril
December 30, 2014
This looks delicious!
matthew620
January 11, 2015
Great pictures they look delicious, looks like a simple recipe as well ill definitely have to give them ago!
SteffiGrimm
January 14, 2015
Hey, you are being nominated for A very inspiring blogger award. Please have a look here, and congratulations! http://steffisays.com/2015/01/14/my-very-inspiring-blogger-award/
May I say that I love your recipes and you are definitely one of my inspirations when it comes to cooking! xx
tinafaloon
January 27, 2015
Ooh, you just had to mention that you won didn’t you
Tell them who won the bending over and picking up a sliver of cardboard with your tongue then, why don’t you! I think you’ll find that’s far more impressive! X
Sally
February 8, 2015
Never, ever had gingerbread last long enough in my house to reach the mouldy stage. Happy New Year (can I still say that in February?)
Where's the Food?
February 13, 2015
This looks very delicious!! I also found that some of the best recipes are from friends or family!
tailoredmommy
February 18, 2015
Omg these look so amazing! Adding to my list of yummies to make! ✌️
Ani
February 18, 2015
Combines two things perfectly. Gingerbread and my birthday (It was posted on mine). Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
xoxo Ani
http://www.allthingsanimazing.com
baker319
June 17, 2015
Mmmmm, that sounds amazing !!!! BTW follow my blog to get the most amazing recipes !!!