Tuesday 24 April 2012

Tuesday Tasters....Grantham Gingerbreads.(Recipe)


Well today's taster is an old local recipe I thought it would be nice to share it with you.


Grantham Gingerbread
Grantham Gingerbread.

Ingredients
(Serves: 60)

450 Gram Caster sugar (1 lb)
225 Gram Butter (8 oz)
1 Egg, beaten
450 Gram Plain flour (1 lb)
1/2 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
1 Teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon Ground ginger
Method
 (Makes about 60)

Cream the sugar and butter together. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and ground ginger together. Fold into the creamed mixture.

Make into small balls or drop by teaspoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 150 °C / 300 °F / Gas 2 for 20 minutes or until light brown.

Now for a little History of how the Grantham Gingerbread came about.....

During the old coaching days Grantham was one of the stopping places of the Royal Mail Coach and while the horses were being changed at the George Hotel, passengers would stroll down the street and invariably purchase a supply of Grantham Whetstones, which were the first form of biscuits ever offered for sale. Then in 1740, a local tradesman, named William Egglestone, made an accidental discovery. In bygone days business premises were always closely shuttered and as part of Egglestone's business was that of a baker, he went into his shop one Sunday morning to get the ingredients for making some cakes for his family. In the semi darkness of the shop, he mistook one ingredient for another and it was not until the cakes were baking that he discovered his mistake. The little cakes before being placed in the oven, were cut out with a wine glass and should have remained that size when baked, but instead of which they rose up and became nearly twice the size. Anyway once they had finished cooking he and his Family decided to try them and found that they enjoyed the delicate flavour so as a result offered them for sale in his shop calling them 'Grantham Gingerbreads'.

Grantham gingerbread is unique in the fact that it has no molasses in it making it a white ginger bread with a much creamier texture, it is not really a biscuit or a bread...in fact it's kind of hard to describe so why don't you make yourself a batch and see how you like them??? 

If you ever come to Grantham however you will not find them for sale....They can be bought at the mid lent fair when they visit so they are obviously made somewhere but are not found locally in bakeries. Years ago they used to be made and sold at a place called 'Catlins' who were actually the successors of  Mr Egglestone and still occupy the his original premises built on the High Street in 1560. They may still be sold there but as of yet I haven't checked but I will let you know!!



17 comments:

  1. I've never heard of Grantham Gingerbreads. Interesting history.

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    1. It's always nice to share a bit of local history...a lot of it was news to me too!!

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  2. Did you see the gingerbread on the Hairy Bikers Bakeation programme?

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    1. No...I don't tend to get around to watching much TV...however I have seen a few of their programmes and thoroughly enjoyed them.

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  3. That is so neat that they were created by mistake. I think I'd like that light texture, so I'm going to have to bake a batch. Thanks!

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    1. I think most of my cooking comes from mistakes...and not always the good kind..lol

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  4. I've never heard of them but they sound good to me. How cool that they were a mistake that turned out to be a hit

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    1. Give them a go Ann...maybe they could become a new craze in the States?!?!

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  5. I like the history behind these and I think I'd like to try them for myself too. This shows that sometimes a mistake can be a very good thing.

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    1. I think you can always get something good out of a mistake...even if it's only a 'Well I won't do that again'!!

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  6. Yummy! And you know, I'll bet those biscuits would be absolutely gorgeous crumbled up and used as a pie crust. Maybe with a pumpkin pie filling?

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    1. Sounds good Tanya...pity I don't have any pumpkins yet...the seedlings are going strong though!!

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  7. they taste horrible

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    1. Well I guess everyone has an opinion and lets face it if we all liked the same things then it would be a very boring world!!

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  8. omg oh my dam that better than candy and jam

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  9. Baked these after hearing about them on TV, on Michael Portillo's railway journeys programme. He arrived in Grantham and saw them being made. I Googled and found the recipe and baked them the next day. They are easy to make, using ingredients you probably have in the cupboard and absolutely delicious! Will be making more.

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  10. My maiden name was Eggleston and we always knew that the Eggleston famiily had gingerbread connections but I don't think any of us have ever been to Grantham. We are Australians but my husband is Indian and I have lived in India for more then 50 years now . Next visit to England must include Grantham. My granddaughter sent the first details about EgglestonGranthamgingerbread which I read tonightIt is now 2.30 am and I must try to sleep and not think about family histories

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!