As it’s still jolly cold in our churches, I chose a juicy and spicy biscuit with a thick chocolate topping – surprisingly few people have give up chocolate for Lent, so I had a clean plate in no time. Stem ginger in syrup gives a good warm tang while both the ginger and the cherries make the biscuit nice and chewy.
Chocolate ginger and cherry biscuits
120 g SR flour
2 teasp ground ginger
1/2 teasp mixed spice
30 g pale muscovado sugar
about 30 g drained & chopped stem ginger (or crystallised ginger)
30 g glacé cherries
50 g butter
50 g Golden Syrup
85 g good quality dark chocolate
Makes about 20
Chocolate ginger and cherry biscuits
Heat oven to 200°C/ 180°C for a fan oven/Gas Mark 6
Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets.
Sift the flour, spices and sugar into a large bowl and mix in the chopped ginger and cherries.
Melt butter and Golden Syrup in a saucepan (taking care that it doesn’t boil) and then stir this into the spices flour, plunging your hands in as the mixture comes together (you may need a little extra flour at this point).
Pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough, roll into a ball, place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown, slightly cracked on top but still soft. Leave on baking sheet for a few minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Put the chocolate in a bowl over just boiled water with the heat turned right down. When melted put a blob of chocolate on each biscuit, dribble in zig zags across or be more randomly creative as in the picture which accompanied the original recipe below.
For me the gold leaf is a step too far although it does look very pretty. (The magazine recipe suggest you buy gold leaf from here.) I had forgotten to make a note of details of which magazine on the cutting, so I can’t give anyone the credit. The addition of cherries was my idea – on a whim as they were stored next to the ginger. The plate used in the picture is wonderful – the biscuits look stunning too!
Chocolate ginger biscuits with gold leaf
6 Comments
I think gold leaf might be a step too far for most of us, but it does create a rather stunning effect!
And makes for a nice picture too.
I prefer your neater chocolate circles Mary. This recipe sounds really delicious, lots of ingredients I like; ginger, mixed spice and golden syrup. The gold leaf is perhaps a step too far for everyday biscuits though. A little piece of crystallised ginger on top might be nice. X
Oh I don’t know, I rather admire the studied irregularity which just screams a confident maker but I’m not at all sure I could get it right myself. Crystallised ginger on top would be a great idea. Thanks.
Hmm, yes, there is an implied insouciance in the irregularity I suppose! X
oh to have – or produce something with – implied insouciance. I feel I may be unable to get through the next week without shoehorning this description into the conversation.