I am a hoarder of recipes that I see online. Some of them I print, some of them I email to myself. I have so many of them that I will never make them all. If I don't act quickly, I forget about them and never end up making them, and discover them years later in a heap of papers or in my email box.
When I saw Dan Lepard's recipe for Queen's Gingerbread in The Guardian online, I knew that I had to make it. It intrigued me because Dan said that it was what the Elizabethans would have called a sweetbread. I was also hooked because it contained crystallised ginger - one of my favourite things in all the world. To ensure that I didn't put the recipe in a drawer and forget about it, I printed it off and left it on my kitchen bench until I got around to it. The first attempt at making it was aborted as I lacked a crucial ingredient - ground ginger. Not to be thwarted, I left my lined cake tin on the counter and bought the ground ginger the next night.
This gingerbread is not a cake or a cookie - it is more like a slice (or what Americans call a bar cookie). It is very substantial, so a small piece goes a long way. For this reason, I ended up chopping the pieces in the photograph in half again for serving purposes.
The gingerbread is quite dense, and contains sugar, honey and treacle (or in my case, golden syrup). It is studded, not only with crystallised ginger, but dried apricots, and features almonds on top. The spices in this gingerbread are ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace. I left out the mace as I didn't have any.
I really enjoyed this gingerbread for a change. I won't say that I loved it so much I would hurry to make it again, but I think it would be a great edible Christmas gift. Dan published the recipe as Diamond Jubilee baking, so that is the occasion that I dedicate mine to - congratulations to Queen Elizabeth II on a stellar achievement of 60 years on the throne of the United Kingdom.
Printing recipes off and taking them to the kitchen would be a good way for me to reduce my 'saved but never made' bookmark collection too. Good idea!
ReplyDeleteI like the look of this gingerbread and am also interested to hear it would have been called a sweetbread - I've always wondered just what they were.
Hubby loves crystallised ginger and has actually asked me to make slices for him to fuel up on while cycling. I think he'd love this! :D
ReplyDeleteYour first paragraph could be about me! I was looking through some bits I'd torn out of a magazine...and they were all Christmas recipes. No doubt I will have forgotten all about them come December!
ReplyDeleteTHis looks lovely - I love the texture
mmmm gingerbread!!!
ReplyDeleteGingerbread like a bar cookie, what's not to like!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a delicious bar cookie!
ReplyDeleteIt looks and sounds so very good. I will have to try making this during the cold weather months because that is when I usually crave denser desserts and those spices.
ReplyDeleteI love gingerbread and this might be a lovely and interesting new "take" for my Christmas basket. And, dried apricots are a favorite. I watched all the royal celebration activities on BBC America and especially loved the Thames flotilla. Sixty years is a stellar achievement. She is quite the lady.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great cake for the jubilee - I didn't do much but am glad you got this in before the olympics when we will need to fly the flag of a different country though I suspect it will mean england fever all over again
ReplyDeleteps I used delicious to bookmark my recipes and tag them with ingredients and recipe types - it is great when I have an idea for a recipe - helps me dredge up old recipe ideas.
ReplyDeleteCopying this recipe to try as I love love love DL's recipes and this one looks so nice...you did a good job photographing it to make my mouth water just looking at it! Can't wait to try it...will probably do a mini version as you are very clear about small pieces going a long way. Thanks for the tips.
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