Sticky crumble topped gingerbread

Searching for a gingerbread recipe can be a bit confusing – for a start gingerbread can be a rich loaf cake, a pain d’epices, or it can be a crisp biscuit for gingerbread houses or little iced biscuits (see my own recipe for Gingerbread foxes). This is neither! Inspired in part by Grassmere gingerbread (a Lakeland classic) this is a gooey, soft biscuit with a spiced crumble topping and perfect for a Christmas treat.

Notes

• Makes about 22 triangular biscuits, but you can chop them into any shape.
• This is a double bake recipe, that is you need to bake shortbread first, then use this shortbread as part of the main bake.
• These make awesome foodie Christmas gifts.

Equipment

• small saucepan
• small baking tray (about 18 cm x 24 cm)
• parchment/baking paper/silicon mat
• large bowl and a smaller bowl or cup
• scales, measuring spoons
• wire cooking rack
• wooden spoon

Ingredients for the shortbread base

• Plain flour – 145 g
• Ground almonds – 30 g
• Caster sugar – 70 g
• Unsalted butter at room temperature – 110g

Other ingredients

• Light brown sugar or demerara – 70g
• Ground ginger – 2 teaspoons
• Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
• Golden syrup – 40 g
• Treacle – 30 g
• Unsalted butter – 50 g
• Crystalised ginger – 55 g
• Lemon zest – zest of half a lemon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C fan / 200 °C conventional
2. Place some greasproof or baking paper in your baking tray
3. Crumble the ingredients for the shortbread together in a bowl, mixing it in with your fingers until you get fine sand
4. No need to roll out the shortbread – you are going to bake this as crumbs
5. Tip the crumbed shortbread dough onto your baking sheet and spread it out so it’s in one thin layer
6. Bake for 13-14 minutes until it’s starting to go a nice golden brown
7. Remove and leave to cool a little
8. Do not turn off your oven
9. Crumble the cooked shortbread back into the bowl – leave the baking tray with the greaseproof paper to one side as you will use it again (and there is no need to lay a new piece of paper down)
10. To the bowl, add 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the light brown sugar
11. Mix thoroughly and ensure there are no large pieces of shortbread
12. Spoon out about 25% of this crumble and put it to one side in a separate small bowl or cup
13. Into the remaining shortbread crumble mix (still in the bowl) add in another teaspoon of ginger and the zest of half a lemon
14. Finely chop the crystalised ginger and add that to the bowl as well
15. In a saucepan, melt the additional 50 g butter with the treacle and golden syrup
16. When melted (don’t let it bubble or boil) tip this into the crumble mixture in the bowl and mix it all together
17. Pour this mixture out onto the lined baking tray and press it down so that it makes an even layer
18. Bake for 10 minutes
19. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle the reamining crumble (that you kept aside) all over the gingerbread. Even it out with your fingers or a fork and then press the crumble down slightly into the gingerbread (with your fingers or the back of a spoon)
20. Bake for a further 4 minutes
21. Leave to cool and cut into triangles or squares

 

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