Grandma Abson's Traditional Baking: Recipe of the Month

Georgian Gingerbread takes the biscuit

This year marks 300 years following the birth of James Paine, architect of The Mansion House, Doncaster. I adapted this Ginger Bread recipe from The Cook and Housewife’s Manual: A practical System of Modern Domestic Cookery and Family Management by Mistress Margaret Dods 1826 to celebrate Georgian baking at the Mansion House and Cusworth Hall this year. It’s a perfect autumn recipe from the past.

Tasting Georgian/Regency Gingerbread

What you need

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

How to bake …

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.

The black treacle made for a more intense flavour and a heavier texture than the lighter Gingerbread we are more used to nowadays.