Last weekend, I baked a batch of David Lebovitz’ chocolate biscotti. Actually, I attempted two batches, but owing to a bad case of brain fog, I omitted the sugar the first time and then burnt the almonds. Attempt #2 was more successful. As these are one of my favourite cookies, it was well worth the effort!
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I also tried this new recipe by Dan Lepard for red Leicester cheese biscuits (cookies). They were very easy to make and as my boys aren’t fans of caraway, I rolled them in poppy seeds. The entire batch was eaten that evening!
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Finally, I made Jamie Oliver’s Ultimate Gingerbread – appealing because I was making shortbread cookies as a gift, and had a half batch of dough leftover. The recipe appears in his book Cook with Jamie, and suggests using either homemade or shopbought shortbread as a starting point. Here’s my take on the recipe…
- 400g shortbread (I used cookies made with our shortbread freezer dough)
- 170g raw or demerara sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 40g mixed peel (I used some Italian cedro)
- 40g crystallised ginger
- 70g plain (AP) flour
- pinch of baking powder
- 40g treacle
- 40g date molasses (original recipe specified golden syrup)
- 70g unsalted butter
1. I began by baking a batch of unsugared shortbead cookies, although shop bought or other homemade shortbread should also work fine in this recipe. Preheat the oven to 170C (340F) or 160C (320F) with fan. Line a tray with parchment paper – I used my 23cm x 33cm (9″ x 13″) baking pan.
2. Blitz the cookies in a food processor with the sugar and two teaspoons of the ground ginger to form crumbs. Remove 100g of the crumbs for later use.
3. Chop the peel and crystallised ginger, then add them to the food processor with the flour, baking powder and the remaining teaspoon of ground ginger. Pulse the mixture until well combined.
4. In a big stock pot (it needs to be large enough to hold all the mixture), melt together the butter, treacle and date molasses (or golden syrup) and then add all the ingredients from the food processor (excluding the reserved crumbs) and stir really well to combine.
5. Scrape the gingerbread mixture into the lined baking pan and spread it out evenly with a spatula or clean hands. It will be very flat and dense. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top. Press down firmly on the crumbs with a spatula to stick them to the hot gingerbread. Cut the gingerbread into serving size slices, then leave to cool completely in the pan before serving.
This recipe isn’t for everyone, but for true ginger aficionados, it’s a great treat with a cup of hot tea or coffee!
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 