Gingerbread
The recipe is adapted from The Bread Book, by Linda Collister and Anthony Blake.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose or spelt flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup cold, unsalted butter, diced
- ½ to ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar, depending on your preference for sweetness
- ½ cup blackstrap molasses
- 1½ tablespoons finely grated fresh or frozen ginger
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup honey
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift flour, baking soda and spices into a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips or use a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir the sugar and milk in a medium-size saucepan and bring to just a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the molasses and honey. Let stand until luke-warm, then whisk in the egg and fresh ginger, breaking up any clumps.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into a prepared 8-inch by 4-inch or 5-inch by 2½-inch buttered loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted off centre comes out clean. (As the gingerbread bakes, it will rise, then fall, leaving a large depression. This is good.) Let cool completely in the pan.
