Georgian Gingerbread takes the biscuit

Three hundred years following the birth of James Paine, architect of  The Mansion House Doncaster, a number of events are being held to commemorate the occasion. It was a great privilege to try out some Georgian/Regency baking recipes at one of the events. I adapted a recipe from the 1826 The Cook and Housewife’s Manual by Mistress Margaret Dods.

Gingerbread

Two pounds of flour, a half pound of brown sugar, a half pound of orange peel cut into bits, an ounce of ground ginger, half an ounce of caraway seeds, cloves, mace, and some allspice. Mix with these a pound and a half of treacle, and a half pound of melted butter. Mix the ingredients well together, and let them stand for some hours before rolling out the cakes. The paste will require a little additional flour in rolling out. Cut the cakes, mark, the top in diamonds with a knife, and bake them on tin plates.

 Here’s my updated version for Georgian Gingerbread

175g/6oz black treacle or molasses

50g/20z butter

50g/2oz light brown sugar

250g/9oz plain flour

50g/2oz orange peel/mixed peel

1-2 teaspoonsful ground ginger

½ teaspoon caraway seeds

½ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon allspice

Preheat the oven to 180C or 160C fan oven. Warm the sugar, butter and black treacle/molasses in a pan until melted. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the sugar/butter/molasses mix. Mix well, then leave in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1 cm, then cut into diamond shapes. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes.

Georgian Gingerbread proved popular with visitors, including the Civic Mayor. The black treacle makes for a more intense flavour and a heavier texture than the lighter Gingerbread we are more used to. What's your take on Georgian era baking?