Course Ginger Bread

Course Ginger Bread is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a classic gingerbread made from breadcrumbs bound with honey and flavoured with spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: Course Ginger Bread.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

(+2 hours chilling)

Makes:

Rating:

Tags : Spice Recipes Baking Recipes Cake Recipes British Recipes

Original Recipe

Course Ginger Bread (from Gervase Markham The English House-wife

Take a quart of Honey clarified, and seeth it till it be brown, and if it be thick, put to it a dash of water: then
take fine crumbs of white bread grated, and put to it, and stir it well, and when it is almost cold, put to it the powder of Ginger,
Cloves, Cinamon, and a little Licorice and Anise seeds: then knead it, and put it into a mould and print it. Some use to put to it also
a little Pepper, but that is according unto taste and pleasure.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

240ml honey
¼ tsp powdered ginger
⅛ tsp ground cloves
⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground liquorice
350g dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp aniseeds

Method:

Heat the honey in a ban Marie (double boiler) and when this becomes liquid enough to stir easily add all the powdered spices (but not the aniseeds). Stir to mix into the honey then add the breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Cover and allow to cook for fifteen minutes. This allows the bread to absorb the honey and the resulting mixture should be thick and moist.

Tip the dough into a large sheet of baking parchment and fold-up the sides to form a rough rectangle. Sprinkle the aniseeds on top of this, pressing them gently into the dough with the back of a wetted spoon. Transfer to the fridge and allow to cool for at least two hours. This should solidify the mixture and allow it to be cut into thin slices before serving.

Traditionally the tops of gingerbread loaves were decorated with incised or stamped patterns. Experiment with adding your own. Note also that this form of gingerbread is almost identical to the Medieval version except for the addition of ground liquorice (which can be omitted if you want). You can also dust the surface of this cake with cinnamon and caster sugar if you wish.