For all the years of friendship there is one food secret my friend Joanne and her husband refuse to share. Â They are the custodians of the Sarah Nelson Grasmere Gingerbread Recipe which they produce fresh from the original Sarah Nelson shop in Grasmere in the Lake District, England. Â Having spent time with them on my recent trip back to the UK it reminded me how much I love all things ginger, especially their world famous bake.
There are lots of variations of this gingerbread recipe but I decided to try my hand at the one in the River Cottage Baking Book to bring back a few memories and warm up afternoon tea whilst the southerly blows through today. Â I’m bound to say that it isn’t a patch on the real thing (no, seriously it isn’t) Â but wasn’t a bad alternative if a little light and the ginger taste a little too subtle for my liking.
The things I love most about Sarah Nelson gingerbread is the powerful ginger taste, the crumbly top and the fact it requires a firm bite. Â To achieve those fine characteristics I think I’m going to have to fiddle with the basic recipe a little more and use some more earthy ingredients (perhaps wholemeal flour, dark sugar and a lot more spice to pack a bigger punch not to mention a special crumbly topping). Â I might try it again with a little reference to the wonderful Ginger Biscuit recipe my father-in-law passed onto to me.
I don’t think that the folks who make the real Grasmere Gingerbread have anything much to worry about. Unless of course I crack the case of the special secret recipe!
Grasmere Style Gingerbread (adapted from River Cottage Baking Book)
125g plain flour
2tsp ginger
1/2 baking powder
125g fine oatmeal
125g soft brown sugar
175g unsalted butter melted
50g freshly grated ginger (or glace ginger finely chopped)
1 tsp ground cardammon
Sift flour, ginger, cardammon and baking powder together in mixing bowl. Â Add the oatmeal, chopped or grated ginger and sugar and mix well. Finally add the melted butter and mix until wet dough. Â Press into shallow baking tin (20x25cm) lined with baking parchment.
Bake for around 30mins @ 180 degrees C. Â Cut immediately but leave to cool in tin. Â Scoff sparingly with a strong cup of English tea!