Grantham Gingerbread
Introduction
Grantham is known for being the place where Sir Isaac Newton went to school. It also had the first female police officer in 1914, the first running diesel engine in 1892 and the UK's first tractor in 1896. Grantham Gingerbread is hard to find in the town, which is sad because it really is delicious. Very different to the gingerbread that we usually find and very pale as it doesn't use treacle, it is crunchy, hollow and somewhat reminiscent of honeycomb. The story goes that it originated by accident in Grantham in about 1740. A local baker made a mistake with his ingredients and found that this was the result - a happy accident, and some of the best ideas come from a simple mistake!
Ingredients
(Makes about 20)100g softened butter
350g caster sugar
1 egg
250g self-raising flour
3tsps ground ginger
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 140C (fan) and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together, beat in the egg. Add flour and ginger and work into the mixture. It will be quite dry and crumbly.
3. Shape into balls (about 20) then flatten each ball slightly. Place onto greaseproof lined trays, with a gap between each ball as to allow them to spread during baking.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes; they will still look very pale.
5. Cool on a wire rack.