Mrs Powell’s Abundant Gingerbread

Delicious homemade gingerbread

Hello, Ducks. Lovely to see you this Christmas. This is one of my favourite Christmas treats. Guy used to love cutting out the shapes and helping me decorate them when he was a little boy and Hatty’s learned to make the recipe all by herself. This is the kind of dough that forgives rolling and re-rolling which is why it’s so perfect for making biscuits with children – not a bit will be wasted and the last biscuit will be as delicious as the first.

Mrs Powell at work in the Tillingford Hall kitchen (DeepAI)

I’ve tried to make a gluten free version but it just comes out too crumbly to be really palatable so his Lordship has to make do with gluten free gingerbread men from the supermarket.

I originally picked this up from Prima magazine in about 1988 but I’ve adapted it over the years. Depending on the size of the shapes you’re cutting you get at least three trays full of biscuits, so make sure you’ve got plenty of visitors to eat them up.

So, here’s the ingredients:

12oz (300g) plain flour

½ tsp sodium bicarbonate

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp ground ginger (or cinnamon or mixed spice if you prefer)

4 oz (100g) butter

3 oz (75g) dark brown soft sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

1 beaten egg

And here’s what you do (I’ve written it as 15 steps to make it very easy for Hatty to follow because she’s only eight, but it really is simple, so don’t be put off by the number of steps).

1.      Prep 3 good sized baking trays – grease them up and put baking parchment or greaseproof paper on them

2.      Place the dry ingredients (or a food processor if you’re lucky enough to have one)

3.      Rub in the fat to make breadcrumbs

4.      Add the sugar

5.      Warm the syrup in a pan and add to the mix

6.      Add the beaten egg

7.      Mix it all up

8.      Knead it well

9.      Put it in the fridge for thirty minutes to an hour – the warm syrup will have melted the butter and made the dough too soft for rolling.

10. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark Three (that’s 170 degrees Celsius for all you electric people)

11. Roll it out about the thickness of a pound coin – the bicarb will make them puff up and they’ll be a bit dry and cakey if you make them too fat.

12. Cut out shapes and place on the tray, re-roll leftover pastry and cut more shapes. If you want to make decorations to hang on your tree, use the end of the handle of a teaspoon to make a good-sized hole near the top of the shape, making sure you leave enough pasty above the hole so the biscuit doesn’t snap when you try to thread the ribbon through.

13. Cook for 10-15 minutes until a rich golden brown

14. Leave them to cool – if you pick them up too quickly not only will you burn yourself but they’ll crumble. Cooling helps them solidify.

15. When they’re completely cold you can decorate them with a little glace icing. They definitely benefit from this – you could say there are a little bland without the icing. And they definitely look prettier when decorated.

Please do send me a picture of your creations! Write to me via my friend Flora - she's a lovely girl, you know. A talented writer by all accounts. I can't wait to read one of her books.