To make Gingerbread

To make Gingerbread is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a classic boiled gingerbread of the royal court made with a blend of stale bread, spices, sugar and claret that's rolled out, dusted with spiced sugar and stamped with patterns before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: To make Gingerbread.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

60 minutes

Serves:

6–8

Rating:

Tags : Spice Recipes Bread Recipes Cake Recipes British Recipes

Original Recipe

To make Gingerbread (from Sir Hugh Platt's Delightes of Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and distillatories with Beauties, banquets, perfumes and waters. Reade, Practise, and Censure 1602)

22. To make Gingerbread.

TAke three ſtale manchets and grate them, drie them, and ſift them through a fine ſieue then ad vnto them one ounce of ginger being beaten, and as much Cinamon, one ounce of liquerice, & anniſeedes being beaten together and ſearced, halfe a pound of ſugar, then boile all theſe together in a poſnet, with a quart of claret wine till they come to a ſtiffe paſte with often ſtirring of it, and when it is stiffe, molde it on a table and ſo driue it thin, & print it in your moldes; duſt your moldes with Cinamon, Ginger, and liquerice, being mixed together in fine powder. This is your Gingerbread vſed at the Court, and in all gentlemens houſes at feſtiuall times. It is otherwise called drie Leach.

Modern Redaction

This is a rich Elizabethan gingerbread which was used at festivals (Easter, Christmas etc) and which, Hugh Plat informs us was served at court (presumably both Elizabeth Ist and James Ist).

Manchet was quite a fine type of Elizabethan loaf. You can find the recipe for manchet here if you want to make your own, but a white bloomer would be an acceptable substitute.

Ingredients:

400g stale manchet, finely grated and dried in a low oven
1 tbsp finely-grated ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground liquorice root
1 tbsp ground aniseed
225g sugar
400ml claret (or other full-bodied red wine)
icing sugar mixed with a little ground ginger, ground cinnamon and ground liquorice

Method:

In a bowl, stir together the manchet, ginger, cinnamon, liquorice, aniseed and sugar. Work in a little of the claret until you have a smooth paste then work in the remaining claret.

Turn the mixture into a pan and, stirring constantly, bring to a gentle simmer. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until you have a very thick paste (think bread dough).

Take off the heat and allow to cool until it can be handled. Turn the paste onto a cold marble slab then roll out to about 2cm thick. Dust the surface with a mix of icing sugar, ginger, cinnamon and ground liquorice then cut into squares or diamonds.

If you want to be very Elizabethan, then you can roll these shapes into moulds to shape them or you can press stamps into the surface to decorate with crests or animal patterns.

These make an excellent and rather unusual sweetmeat for Christmas and go very well with mulled wine.

Find more Hugh Plat Recipes Hereand more Traditional Elizabethan Recipes Here.