This is one of my favourite recipes, and I always make a double batch - one to eat now, and one to freeze. It is scrummy.


Weigh the dry ingredients.

I find it easier to weigh the butter, syrup etc in the pan (less mess), just weigh the empty pan first then add the ingredients.

Peel, core and chop the apples, cook to a pulp with a little water and a spoonful of sugar, and leave to cool.

I had run out of Demerara sugar this time, so I used Muscavado instead. Granulated is fine if that's all you have.

This is all a double mix of ingredients and I was generous with the apples too!

APPLE GINGERBREAD WITH CINNAMON ICING

½ lb cooking apples

3oz Demerara sugar

¼ lb golden syrup

3 oz butter

6 oz S-R flour

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

1 egg

Peel and slice apples, and put in a pan with 1 dessertspoonful sugar and just sufficient water to keep them from burning. Stew gently until tender. Mash up and leave to get cold. Put the golden syrup in a pan with the butter, and the remainder of the sugar; dissolve gently, then leave to cool.

Sift the flour into a basin with the ground ginger and ground cloves. Whisk up the egg, add the dissolved syrup and fat etc and whisk together; then add to the flour. Mix well, stir in the apple pulp and beat all together. Turn into a well-greased oblong tin. Bake in a moderate oven, about ½ hour. When cooked, let stand for a little before turning out of tin. The icing is optional.

CINNAMON ICING

6 oz icing sugar

2 – 3 dessertspoonfuls water

1 level teaspoonful ground cinnamon

Rub sugar through a sieve and mix with the ground cinnamon. Then stir in sufficient moderately hot water to make a thick coating consistency. Spread on top of gingerbread and leave to set.