Consequently, Alan and I were tired and accepted the fact that we had to get take away Chinese food for dinner, poor us! Sat down for one hour and then traipsed off to the rehab hospital to see Mom, who continues to be fantastic and is getting better everyday.
Alan got the opportunity to go out for drinks with the boys, I was delighted to be on my own and just entertain myself for a few hours. Instead of sitting around and resting, I got inspired to find a recipe and bake myself a treat. So I located a recipe I had not done in years, and I used to do this one all the time. One of my previous employers used to have a newsletter and this recipe was published once and I had used it so many times. I am not sure when it became "lost" but it is found again. However, in my haste, I discovered problems with this recipe and it was too late to correct it. But you will see for yourselves.
When I was a sorority girl, many years ago, my big sister gave me a recipe book - the kind with blank pages and dividers so I could put in my own favorite recipes. In my normal way - I saved this special book for many years, maybe even 20, why? I should have started using it a long time earlier, but glad I did use it otherwise some special recipes would have been lost, like this Gingerbread. One strange thing I had not noticed until doing this last night, the measurements are all in cups and teaspoons - just like an American recipe. I did try to convert it to Imperial, but got stuck with the 2 cups of flour. I tried weighing the flour, but it weighed in at 370g, and, when looking at the measuring cups, it looks like it should be 500 or 600g. Sorry, I don't know how to do this any other way than using the cups.
Gingerbread -
2 cups flour (plain flour) all metric measurements are sheer guesswork!
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar, I used demerara (added October 22 after researching other recipes!)
3/4 cup treacle (molasses) could have possibly used less, will experiment again
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice
1 heaped teaspoon ginger
1 heaped teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
4 ounces margarine (115g)
1 cup water (250ml)
1 cup dried fruit (170g) (I only had raisins and cranberries - in the picture.
Then discovered raisins were out of date!)
all present and accounted for (minus the raisins)
Here is the first lesson in patience - read the whole recipe before starting, I did not do this and ended up ruining the whole batch of bread! You have to plan time to cool the mixture after number 3. I failed to do this! I did notice I had a scrambled egg on top and that was my wake up call.
1. Place all ingredients, except for flour and egg, in a pan and boil. Another note, put it in a rather large pan because it really boils!
2. Boil for 4 minutes and allow to cool
3. Add flour and egg and mix well.
4. Place in a loaf tin, prepared as you would for any bread baking, and bake for 1 hour & 15 minutes
at 325 F, 170 C or gas mark 3 - 4.
this version tasted fine, but not exactly as I remembered and it did not boil like I remembered, so I looked up other Gingerbread recipes. Lo and behold, it looks like when I copied this recipe into my little book I must have forgotten the sugar! And that must be why I stopped doing this! So now my mission is to try it again using some sugar or similar ingredient. That is the next lesson in patience, we will all have to wait until I have time to try this again. Sorry!
October 22 changes made due to experimenting with combining other recipes. I added 3/4 sugar and 3/4 treacle AND let the mixture cool totally before adding flour and egg. The result was delicious! I felt like Paul Hollywood from the Great British Bake Off saying "there is such a crunch to the crust"! And I made the mistake of taking some to work and have had to force myself to stop eating it.
Although, I might cut down on treacle next time......Patience remains a virtue!
Not sure what I will try, some recipes call for sugar and others call for treacle, It was not until I double checked that I was sure treacle and molasses are interchangeable. So here is the treacle I got the other day to get ready to try this again - I just could not resist!
And here is the recipe without all the pictures. If any of you come up with an acceptable amount of sugar or whatever, please share with me!
Gingerbread
2 cups flour (plain flour) all metric measurements are sheer guesswork!
1 egg
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice
1 heaped teaspoon ginger
1 heaped teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
4 ounces margarine (115g)
1 cup water (250ml)
1 cup dried fruit (170g)
Allow time for mixture to cool before adding flour and egg in number 3.
1. Place all ingredients, except for flour and egg, in a pan and boil. Another note, put it in a rather large pan because it really boils!
2. Boil for 4 minutes and allow to cool
3. Add flour and egg and mix well.
4. Place in a loaf tin, prepared as you would for any bread baking, and bake for 1 hour & 15 minutes
at 325 F, 170 C or gas mark 3 - 4.
"And I had but one penny in the world. Thou should’st have it to buy
gingerbread." – William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours Lost
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