Gingerbread Biscuit - Recommendations

[Sophie Cook]

Hello,

 

Now that the festive season is approaching I'm looking forward to making a Gingerbread house and men this year. Does any one have any recommendations for a good gingerbread biscuit recipe? I've never made it before.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated

[emmalish]

I haven't made a gingerbread house in years. Let's just say mine wasn't a big success (putting it mildly). Maybe I should try again one day...

 

I have a recipe for gingerbread here that I absolutely love and would definitely recommend for the gingerbread men. The original recipe says it can be used for a house too, but I haven't tried it personally.

 

I also have this chocolate-gingerbread that's really good, but if I had to choose just one, I'd go for the first one. 

[CatPoet]

I have a gingerbread house recipe, the dough isnt as yummy as normal ones but it holds it shape and it is sturdy and  it smells fantastic.    For eating I use another recipe  and when I find  both cookbooks  I will post the recipe, I put them away from my daughter and now I cant find them.

[Lisa Shock]

You want a recipe that has no leavening so that your walls have crisp, straight edges. Usually, the formulas for the house type dough are different from other formulas. They will still have spices to smell nice, but, aren't really meant to be eaten. I use a formula from an old professional baking book.

[CatPoet]

Gingerbread house dough

 

300 ml sugar

200 ml  golden treacle / honey/ dark corn syrup or Swedish Ljus sirap

100 gram butter

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground clove

300 ml milk

1 tablespoon bicarb

1-1.2  kilo of  flour

 

In a pot mix  sugar, treacle, butter and heat until butter is melted, add the milk and the spices , leave to cool.  Now  Add 1 cup flour mixed with the  bicarb to big bowl, pour over the spicesugar mixture and with your hand work in as much  flour you will need. The dough should be slightly tacky but  elastic and  smooth. Wrap in a plastic wrap or in a plastic bag and leave to mature for  at least 24 hours.  

When  baking a house, divide the dough in four balls ,  roll out the  dough to fit the cookie sheet/ baking tray  and  after you place the whole slab on it cut out the house.  That keeps it from going wonky.  Bake the house parts at 175 C for  10 - 15 min for lager parts and smaller 5- 7 min.

[CatPoet]

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/149950-swedish-gingerbreads/ and these are the ones I eat.

[lapin d'or]

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/149950-swedish-gingerbreads/ and these are the ones I eat.

 

Hi, Could you tell me what the butterfat percentage/content would be for the cream you use in this recipe? In the UK the fat content of creams available ie  single, whipping and double are very different.

 

Thanks Jill

[CatPoet]

So long it isnt double cream both single and whipping works, friends has tested it.

 

I did it with single when I was in Scotland  for Christmas.

[Sophie Cook]

Thanks for the super recommendations. I'll definitely try a few of these recipes out

[Lisa Shock]

6lbs flour

2 oz dry ginger

2 oz caraway seeds

(other spice as moves you)

2 oz candied orange peel

2 oz candied lemon peel

½lb moist sugar (?)

½lb melted butter

4 pounds treacle

1-1½ oz volatile salts dissolved in an ounce of water

 

This is from an 1832 pharmacists recipe book. I am going to make this (well a ¼ batch) tomorrow. I'll be subbing baking powder for the ammonium carbonate, as I neglected to order from the chemists' last week.

 

My question is, would this be black treacle or golden?

 

The instructions say you can roll very thin and make crispy or make thicker cakes. Either way, the directions tell you to brush the tops with water just before putting into a hot oven and warns that the tops will be 'very dark' when done.

 

If no reply by tomorrow afternoon, I am using black treacle and jaggery sugar.

 

Also note, this is for a seminar on Bartleby the Scrivener. The name of recipe is gingerbread for ginger-nuts, crisp cakes (rolled thin and cut with a cup) or (thicker) rusks. There is an emphasis on getting these baked crispy without burning. I should be ok in that arena, what with having an electric oven instead of a wood-fired one. There are 7 variations with various spices or lemon being predominate flavors in some versions. I chose the basic one just to see what the cheapest bakery treat was like back in the day. It's pretty clear that certain spices were very costly. Some variations also call for aging the dough for a couple of days, then adding leavening. None of the recipes calls for eggs, so it looks like gluten development was important. That said, I am prepared to deposit these in stencils like tuile stencil cookies if I have to.

 

Modern gingersnaps are referred to as ginger-nuts in some parts of the world now, but, I noticed the recipes from my older cookbooks were different.