GINGERNUTS

GINGERNUTS

Gingernuts are a bit of a childhood favorite, especially dunked in a hot drink.

This is a recipe I’ve made before and loved. The deep flavours added by the molasses and the heat from the three types of ginger and the pepper are amazing.

I baked them for longer because I like them really hard and crispy.

Makes about 35

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
200g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses or treacle
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallised ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2-3/4 cup raw sugar

METHOD
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and spices until well combined. Reserve.

2. Cream the butter and brown sugar until pale brown and fluffy. Beat in the molasses until well combined then beat in the crystallised and fresh ginger. Fold in the reserved dry ingredients in three parts, mixing until just combined each time.

3. Scrape the dough on to a large piece of plastic wrap and pat together to form a large disk. Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 24 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 170C and line biscuit trays with baking paper. Put the raw sugar in a small bowl. Roll a generous tablespoonful of dough (about 25g) into a ball. Press down into the sugar to flatten then put side by side on the prepared tray, sugar side up, with a small space between each.

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5. Bake each tray of biscuits for 12-15 minutes or until the biscuits are just starting to colour around the edges. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Sour Dough Bread

I was given a sour dough starter when we were at a local pizza place close to home. The owner told a story of this starter coming from Naples and it being hundreds of years old. While I'm not totally sure I buy the story, it sounds pretty impressive.

I've been making sour dough bread with varying success for the last couple of years.
I started  using the Tartain Country Bread recipe https://www.marthastewart.com/1130184/tartine-country-bread which seemed to be the 'purist' approach to sour dough bread. The success varies. 

It feels like days of steps to get a couple of loaves. It has meant that I have just not been making it as often as I'd like to.

I came across this overnight method and tried baked it today. It's great. In act one of my best loaves as far as rising ever. It has still got a 'sour' taste 

https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/…/overnight-sourdough-bre…/

I know that this method may not be so traditional, but it works for me and my busy life.

I'm still using the steps for feeding and maintaining the starter from the Tartain method...
70 g starter
100g warm water 
150g and 50/50 white and wholemeal flour.


My loaf is also one of the best I've made in terms of rising.

Ingredients

• 50 grams Bubbly Sourdough Starter(1/4 cup)
• 350 grams warm water (80 degrees F)(1-1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
• 500 grams Bread Flour(4 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
• 9 grams Celtic Sea Salt

Method

You need to make sure your sourdough starter is bubbly and ready to go. If it has not been fed recently then take a few spoonfuls of sourdough starter from your fridge and give it that much flour and water and let it ferment for 6 - 8 hours.

Before Bedtime ~ Making the dough

1. Gather ingredients and materials.
2. Close to your bedtime, add the bubbly sourdough starter and warm water to a ceramic bowl. Mix them together with a whisk until well combined.
3. Then add the flour and salt and combine together with a stiff spatula. You can also use your hands to get the flour fully incorporated. The dough will look a little scraggly, feel dense, and stick to your fingers. Try and scrape off as much dough from your hands as possible but don't over mix it at this point. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, flour your hands and work the dough into a smooth ball. Do this by folding the dough over and pressing it into the center until the dough starts to turn into a smoother ball.
5. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise overnight for 8-10 hours (around 70 degrees F). The next morning the dough will have risen in the bowl and look puffier than it did the night before.

In the Morning ~ Making and Baking the Bread

1. In the morning, use your spatula and gently pull the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust your hands with flour and start at the top and fold the dough over to the center, repeating on all sides (add more flour if needed).
2. Then flip the dough over and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
3. Line an 8-inch bowl with a towel and dust generously with flour. Make sure your hands are still floured and pick up the dough and place it in the bowl with seam side up.
4. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 to 60 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your pot, leaving excess so you can grab the bread and take it out of the pot. Place your parchment paper over the bowl and invert the bowl to allow the bread to release onto the paper.
5.  With a small razor blade or serrated knife, score the bread with four slashes.
6. Pick up the parchment and carefully place your bread in the pot.
7. Place the lid on the pot and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue baking for 30 more minutes.
8. You can take it out of the pot and onto the rack to bake for 5 minutes longer to darken the bread if you'd like.
9. When bread is done, take bread out of pot and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes to an hour, although we often can't wait to eat it! Store loaf in a bag on the counter, or this bread freezes beautifully.

Apple Gingerbread Cake

Gingerbread cake was a favourite of mine as a child - especially hot with butter melting into it. I'm not sure why I have never made it as an adult. 
Today we are helped by a neighbour when the car battery was flat. Isabella and I thought it was appropriate to thank him with a cake and with eggs. Our four chickens are producing an eg a day at the moment so we have a bit of a surplus.

Ingredients

125 g	Butter
½ cup	Brown sugar
¾ cup	Golden syrup, (185ml)
2 cups	Self raising flour, sifted
½ tsp	Baking soda, sifted
1 Tbsp	Ground ginger, sifted
1	Granny Smith apple, peeling and grated
1	Egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup	Milk
2	Granny Smith apples, extra, peeled cored and quartered
1 Tbsp	Golden syrup, extra, heated
1 to dust	Demerara sugar
1 to serve	Vanilla custard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160 degC. Place butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until butter is melted. Set aside to cool.

2. Place flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger in a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Add butter mixture, grated apple, egg and milk and combine. Pour into a lightly greased 20 x 30cm tin lined with non-stick baking paper.

4. Cut a row of slits in the extra apple quarters and press into the gingerbread. Brush with extra golden syrup and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

5. Slice and serve with custard.