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Grasmere Gingerbread

Sarah Nelson, born Sarah Kemp, invented Grasmere Gingerbread in the mid-1800s. Sarah was born before Queen Victoria and died after her, living 88 years, an accomplishment for the era. Although Sarah faced the inevitable challenges of her time, she was blessed with true love. 

Sarah and her husband moved their family to Church Cottage, a former village school in Grasmere, after losing their son to cholera. They hoped the move might help them protect their daughters from a similar fate. Sarah loved cooking in her Church Cottage kitchen, and she took a job cooking for a lodge to supplement the salary her husband made digging graves at the nearby church. 

In the winter of 1854, Sarah perfected her recipe for a spicy-sweet treat, something between a cookie and a cake, and named it Grasmere Gingerbread®. Soon, she began wrapping pieces of her new treat in parchment paper and selling them from her front door. Tourism was on the rise because rail transportation brought more people to the area.

Sarah was a true businesswoman. She placed her handwritten recipe in a safety deposit box, registered the Grasmere Gingerbread name, and kept working as the lodge cook while growing her gingerbread business. 

A century and a half later, people can still visit her little cottage, now known as The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, where her secret recipe is baked fresh daily. The delicious treat is also shipped around the world, which works because Grasmere Gingerbread isn’t fragile. 

You can read more about Sarah Nelson's amazing life by visiting HERE. 

I found this recipe in an old cookbook, and although it isn’t Sarah’s recipe, the squares are delicious and look quite a bit like true Grasmere Gingerbread. I had no idea what to expect when I made my first batch. At first, I was disappointed because the treat got harder as the days went on. One day, I dipped a piece in my tea, and I understood. This treat is like British biscotti. I ate the entire batch during a two week period. Yes, it keeps that long in a tin on the counter! It is the perfect ending for a quick lunch. 

My latest batch was lovely. I used a heavy, red enamelled pan and reduced the baking time. You will find a variety of recipes for Grasmere Gingerbread on the Internet, but I will remain loyal to this one until someone releases the secret notes of Sarah Nelson, which isn’t going to happen. 

Grasmere Gingerbread

Type of Bakeware: I use a red enamelled heavy pan that measures 9” by 9” at the top and narrows toward the bottom. This pan is a dark colour and quite heavy, so my baking time is less. 

Prepare pan: I oil the pan and line it with parchment paper. This allows me to pick up the entire square while it's still warm, move it to a cutting board, and slice it into 16 pieces.

Preheat the oven: 350°F.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

½ cup of butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ginger powder

1 tablespoon golden syrup

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup chopped candied peel

Method:

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and ginger. In a separate bowl, cream butter with brown sugar, then beat in the syrup. Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, forming a crumbly texture. If you can squeeze the crumbs and they hold together, you have the consistency correct. Add the peel. Press lightly into a prepared 9” by 9” pan.

Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares while the gingerbread is still warm. In this pan, my gingerbread was golden brown in 20 minutes. 

Check out the other shops in the area. 

Steamed Apple Date Pudding

Ingredients:

1 egg

¼ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of maple syrup

½ cup of milk

1½ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

¼ cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces

½ cup of chopped dates

1½ cups of peeled apples, chopped

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg, and add the sugar, maple syrup, and milk. In another bowl, whisk the flour, salt, soda, and spices together. Add the dry mixture to the egg mixture, and beat well. Stir in the butter pieces, dates, and apples.

Pour the batter into a well-greased mould or heatproof bowl. Cover tightly with greased foil, parchment paper, or pudding mould lid. Tie the cover securely with string, or clamp the lid in place. A pyrex bowl, covered in parchment paper that is secured with string would work, if you don't have access to a pudding mould. My grandmother steamed her pudding in glass jars, with wax paper tied over each. This enabled her to, later, reheat smaller portions, at one time. My own mother steamed puddings in coffee tins.   

Gently place the mould on a rack or a metal jar lid, to keep it slightly away from the bottom of the pot. Pour enough water around the pudding to come about two inches up the sides of the pot. Cover the pot and allow the pudding to steam for at least two hours, adding more water as necessary, to maintain the water level. I usually steam this recipe for 2 hours and 15 minutes. This isn’t a precise science. Steamed puddings are very forgiving. Centuries ago, women made steamed puddings over an open fire, and eventually on top of wood stoves. I expect you could steam a pudding on any single source of heat, even a barbeque.

I happen to own a broth pot with a basket inside, and I have collected professional pudding moulds. There is no need for this, but I enjoy serving shaped puddings. To make a pretty pudding without all of the expense, use a metal or glass jelly mould. As long as you tie foil or parchment paper over the top of the pudding, your results will be satisfying. 

After your pudding is cooked, and you have gently lifted it from the pot, remove the lid or parchment paper. Let the pudding cool on the counter for fifteen minutes. Invert the pan, and let the pudding finish cooling. My puddings slide out easily as soon as I invert them. I leave them, exposed to the air, to cool completely.   

Serve the resulting pudding, hot, with your favourite sauce.

The cooled pudding may be wrapped well, in foil, and frozen for later use. To reheat, leave the pudding wrapped in foil, and place it in a 350°F oven for one hour. Or, place the pudding on a rack in a saucepan, pour in two inches of boiling water, cover the pot, and steam for 1 hour. Serve this pudding with your favourite sauce.  

Maureen Haddock's Butter Tart Sauce would be a nice choice.   

Pecan Bites

Pecan Bite

The original recipe for these gluten free, easy, delicious treats was from Company's Coming. The Boy, from the Get a Bigger Wagon stories, says, "They are so delicious they must be illegal." 

Preheat the oven to 300°F

1 egg white

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups of pecan halves, whole

Beat the egg white until soft peaks form. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is stiff. Mix in the vanilla. Fold in the nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto greased baking pan or line a cookie sheet with a Silpat.

Bake the Pecan Bites in a 300°F oven for 20 minutes. Cool these little bites before tasting, because they create a sticky centre which holds the heat.