Does anyone have a tried and tested gingerbread recipe? I said that I would make some for a party tomorrow and used to have the perfect recipe but now can't find it anywhere.
here's one I've used. I've just copied it from my blog, so it might read weird!
also, I didn't make the coloured hard icing stuff ...
enjoy!!
Ingredients:
· 125g butter
· 1/2 cup brown sugar (pushed right down into the cup)
· 1/2 cup golden syrup (warning: uber sticky!!)
· 1 egg yolk
· 2 1/2 cups plain flour
· 1 tbs ground ginger
· 1 tsp mixed spice
· 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
There were also recipes for icing (plain and coloured) but I didn’t want to ice them. I just wanted to bake them and eat them.
I have recently been given some cookie cutters, so I was going to have some gingerbread planes, some gingerbread feet, and some gingerbread Australias (minus Tasmania).
To actually make the gingerbread thingies, I heated the oven to 180oC, and popped some baking paper on the trays.
I then mixed the butter (slightly softened) and the sugar together, until it was nice and creamy (see? see how creamy??).
Needless to say, this recipe involves taste tests at very regular intervals, to ensure the ongoing integrity of the end product. Yum!
Next, I mixed in the yolk and the golden syrup, and used the mixer for a while longer, until it was nice and creamy again. Once that was done, I used a spoon to combine the dry ingredients in too - the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. This is what it looked like then!
I then transferred it all out onto a chopping board (though a mat or a lightly floured surface would be fine) and gently kneaded the dough. It should be nice and smooth, and look a little greasy when it’s all worked through.
Next, pop the dough either in a freezer bag or in some clingwrap, and put it in the fridge for half an hour to rest.
I then put the dough between two pieces of baking paper, and then spread it out until it was the right thickness (about half a centimetre) and then I started using the cookie cutters to make shapes.
This wasn’t a very successful part of the process ... they didn’t hold their shape well, and broke and looked very sad ... maybe leaving it in the fridge longer would have solved this, or maybe there’s a fancy technique I’m unaware of ... but as I just wanted to eat the gingerbread by this stage, I decided to just make normal cookie things, by tearing off sections of the dough, and working it roughly into cookie shapes.
You’re supposed to leave a reasonable gap between your cookies (3cms or so) but I was running out of room ...
I then baked the cookies for 10 minutes, and then whipped them out. This is how they looked! Definitely should have spread them out a bit more, but no matter ... Also, I normally would bake them a bit longer to get them darker and crisper - but I was happy with some nice soft ones this time!
I then put them onto cooling rack.
I’m glad I didn’t bother icing them or anything – they were so tasty, I just wanted to eat them all up! As it is, we’re probably about half way through them ...
This is my all time favourite recipe for gingerbread
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup golden syrup
Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes; mix in spices and salt. Mix in egg and golden syrup, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined. Divide dough in half; pat into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1 to 2 cms. Bake for 10-12 mins.
I'm a bit late for the party but this is the one I use. It uses fresh ginger which gives it a bit more zing.
Ingredients
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup golden syrup
90g butter
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh, grated ginger
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
500g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
Method
Combine the sugar, golden syrup, butter, spices and fresh ginger in a heavy-based pan over low heat, and let melt, stirring. Remove from the heat for 2 minutes, and then stir in the bicarbonate of soda until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the eggs and gradually add the syrup, stirring until all the flour is incorporated and you have a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for an hour.Heat the oven to 180ºC and roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface.
Cut into gingerbread women (or people), stars or rounds, and place on trays lined with baking paper.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the trays.
Glad I fond this, I can't find some of my cookery books at the moment (after moving house), and the kids and I hope to make some travelling associates to come on the trainwith us next week to Melbourne. Yum!
Yes ZF. Next week to Melbourne. Why for you laugh at me? Are you picking on my choice of travel associate? We are still on only one (borrowed car. Oh well, its a good excuse to take the train (oh what fun it will be. Me, and three kids o_o ). Just means I still can't visit you!
Yay, our train and coach buddies are all done. Beansbeans; I used your recipe, but had to add an additional cup of flour. They turned out yum, and I I figured out a previous error, that I was rolling my dough too thin. Anyway, these were superb, and because I ran oit of currants, I gave the kids chocolate chips to use instead. Different, but effective.
Gingerbread men recipe
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We are still on only one (borrowed car. Oh well, its a good excuse to take the train (oh what fun it will be. Me, and three kids o_o ). Just means I still can't visit you!
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