Gingerbread Recipe
Contains: egg, wheat, dairy
I’ve tinkered with gingerbread recipes over the years and this has been the one which I’ve come back to for its consistent results. It’s not an allergy friendly recipe I’m ever so sorry; I’m still learning the ropes of avoiding the top allergens so bear with me on this one.
This one works really well wrapped around a stick as a campfire snack in the winter, bringing you close to the fire for 10 minutes to bake it perfectly.
Ingredients
100g light soft brown sugar
75g unsalted butter
1 whisked egg
3 tbsp golden syrup
300g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb
2 tsp ground ginger
a pinch of salt
3 tbsp orange juice
How to make
Mix the sugar and butter together until soft
Add the egg and syrup
Next mix in the flour, bicarb, ginger and salt
Add 1 tablespoon of orange juice at a time until it’s a sticky ball of dough
Give it a good mix together then bundle it all into a ball
Wrap it or put it in an airtight container and put it into the fridge for 10 minutes - 1 day depending on when you’re planning on using it
How to bake
If you’re making these at home, pop the oven on to 180oc and take your dough out of the fridge. Sprinkle a little flour over your worktop and roll out the dough until it’s 1-2cm thick. Using cookie cutters, make your shapes and transfer them to a non-stick baking sheet. Then into the oven they go for 8-10 minutes. Leave them to cool for the same time on a cooling rack when you bring them out.
On the campfire
find yourself a green stick, as long as your arm and no thinner than your index finger, peel away the bark using a veg peeler or outdoor knife
Take a small piece of the dough; about the size of a child’s palm. See the picture above, that was my hand and slightly too much.
Make a thin, long sausage shape with your dough, about the length of your forearm
Tightly wrap it around your peeled stick until it looks like a spring.
Hold it over the hot part of the fire, not in the flames, for 8-10 minutes.
Turn it every 10-20 seconds to keep it from burning
You’ll find it starts to go golden brown on the outside but starts slipping up and down the stick as the insides begin to go gooey, hold the stick slightly further away from the fire but keep on turning. You’ll find that when the outside is done, the inside isn’t too far behind.
It’ll go harder once away from the fire so leave it somewhere safe for 5 minutes to cool before tucking in.
Enjoy!
