To make ginger-bread is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic method of making gingerbread from a flour, sugar, treacle and butter batter flavoured with ginger and spices that contains candied citrus peel in the mix . The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To make ginger-bread.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
Original Recipe
To make ginger-bread.
TAKE three quarts of fine flour, two ounces of beaten ginger, a quarter of an ounce of nutmeg, cloves, and mace beat fine, but moſt of the laſt ; mix all together, three quarters of a pound of fine ſugar, two pounds of treacle, ſet it over the fire but don't let it boil ; three quarters of a pound of butter melted in the treacle, and ſome candied lemon and orange-peel cut fine ; mix all theſe together well. An hour will bake it in a quick oven.
In a bowl combine the flour, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cloves, sugar and candied peels. Stir thoroughly to combine then set aside.
Pour the treacle into a pan and heat gently until it begins to flow easily. Add the butter and continue heating until this has all melted then stir thoroughly to combine.
Form a well in the flour mixture, pour in the treacle and butter blend then mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients have combined to a batter. Turn this into a round cake tin that's been greased and lined with greaseproof (waxed) paper.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C. Bake for about 75 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and the cake is cooked through (the centre of the cake will still be a little soft, but this is fine). Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes.
After this time, remove from the tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
