Delicious ginger biscuits

For my annual jolly to the Festival of Quilts, I made me and my friend some delicious ginger biscuits to snack on - the joys of the NEC food halls aren't much to write home about (or indeed write about in a blog!). These biscuits really look the part - better than you could buy in a shop, and with that wonderful home-made wonkiness that gives them their charm.

They're really easy to make, and make a good batch - about 26 - 30 depending on how big or small you go. I like to go a little small, so I get more out of them - quality and quantity.

115g butter
85g golden syrup
350g self-raising flour
1 and a half tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarb
200g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 lumps of stem ginger, chopped

Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan) and prepare three baking trays.
Melt the butter and golden syrup over a low heat, then allow to cool until almost cold.
Sift the flour, bicarb, ground ginger, and sugar into a bowl.
Pour the butter and syrup mixture into the bowl, briefly stir, then add the egg, and the chopped ginger. Stir well until it all comes together - you might need to get your hands in to make sure it's a good dough.
Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on the baking trays, spaced out well.
Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes.

It is an effort not to eat several of these at once. They are great on the day of baking, as they are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The day after, if you haven't placed them in an airtight box (oops, I didn't), they might be a little less crunchy - but still delicious.

This is my favourite ginger biscuit recipe I think. I haven't made them in a while, mainly because they are just too moreish. I can't stop at one.

Lager and ginger cake

My boyfriend baked for this month's Clandestine Cake Club - a typically male recipe, lager and ginger cake! It was lovely - I'm not a lager fan, but this cake just had a subtle hint of lager. Steve wasn't happy with the overall look of the cake - he called it 'mashed potato cake' - but I was proud of it.

110g light muscovado sugar
110g unsalted butter
30g golden syrup
55g runny honey
225g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lager - we used San Miguel 

For the buttercream, Steve didn't measure (I never do - just chuck the butter and icing sugar together until it looks right - and added a little lager into this too). 

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). 
Place the sugar, butter, golden syrup and honey in a saucepan over a gentle heat until all the ingredients have melted, leaving a smooth thick paste. 
Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a large mixing bowl and combine.
Pour the melted ingredients into the flour and stir well. The mix will be very thick and more like fudge at this point. 
Beat in the eggs.
Add the lager. 
Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes. 

Make the buttercream and smooth over the top (attempting not to make it look like mashed potato). 

Pear and ginger pudding

Puddings make the world go round. Or, they do in our house at least. My boyfriend can't go far without pudding after his dinner. This pear and ginger sponge pudding is simple but very taste, and good for budgets.

4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
4oz self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tin pear halves
1/2 crystallised ginger piece

Cream together the butter and sugar until,pale and fluffy.
Beat the eggs, then stir into the mixture.
Sieve the flour and add to mixture.
Meanwhile, drain the pear halves, and arrange on the bottom of a suitable ovenproof dish.
Chop the ginger then sprinkle over the pear halves.
Spoon the sponge mixture over the pears and smooth.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees (160 fan) for about 40-50 minutes. I think that was how long it took - I took it out after about 30 minutes and it was still batter in the middle, and it seemed to take ages.
Serve with a little cream, if you like.

You could put more ginger in if you like more of a tang, as this amount was quite subtle but worked well.

I would like to enter this into the brilliant Tea Time Treats blog challenge for February, this month hosted by the lovely What Kate Baked.

Ginger biscuits

I love ginger biscuits, and I've just found a brilliant recipe for the best ever ginger cookies. They're chewy and brilliant with a cup of tea (what I'm enjoying at the moment). It's just plain ol' Tetley tonight, I was too desperate for a cuppa to choose any other leaves. But hits the spot all the same.