GIN′GERBREAD

Prep. 1. (Dr Colquhoun.) Flour, 1 lb.; carbonate of magnesia, 1 ⁄ 4 oz.; mix; add, of treacle, 1 ⁄ 2 lb.; moist sugar, 1 ⁄ 4 lb.; melted butter, 2 oz.; tartaric acid (di olved in a little water), 1 dr.; make a stiff dough, then add of powdered ginger and cinnamon (ca ia), of each 1 dr.; grated nutmeg, 1 oz.; set it aside for half an hour or an hour before putting it into the oven. Obs. It should not be kept longer than two or three hours at the utmost, before being baked. 2. Flour and treacle, of each 1 lb.; butter, 1 1 ⁄ 2 oz.; carbonate of magnesia, 1 oz.; add spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne, corianders, .) to taste; mix as last. Obs. Fit for baking in from four to six hours. 3. Flour, 2 lbs.; carbonate of magnesia, 1 ⁄ 2 oz.; mix; add, treacle, 1 1 ⁄ 2 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; spice, q. s.; tartaric acid, 1 ⁄ 4 oz.; mix quickly, and make it into forms. Obs. Ripe for the oven in half an hour to one hour. 4. Instead of tartaric acid in the last formula, use cream of tartar (di olved in water), 2 oz. Obs. Ripens in 40 or 50 minutes. 5. Flour or fine pollard, 1 lb.; treacle, 3 ⁄ 4 lb.; salt of tartar, 1 ⁄ 2 oz., di olved in water, q. s., butter, 1 oz.; spices, to palate. Obs. Takes several days to ripen; sometimes a fortnight. 6. (Extemporaneous.)— a. From flour, 1 1 ⁄ 4 lb.; moist sugar and treacle, of each 1 ⁄ 2 lb.; butter, 2 1 ⁄ 2 oz.; baker’s salt (carbonate of ammonia), 1 ⁄ 4 oz., di olved in cold water, q. s.; ginger, 3 dr.; nutmeg, 2 dr.; ca ia, 1 dr.; cayenne pepper (best), 1 ⁄ 2 dr. b. From flour, 6 lb.; powdered ginger, 2 1 ⁄ 2 oz.; caraway seeds, 1 oz. (and other spices to palate); candied lemon and orange peels, of each 2 oz.; moist sugar and melted butter, of each 1 ⁄ 2 lb.; treacle, 4 lb.; volatile salt, 2 oz.; water, q. s.; mix as above. May be baked at once. c. From Jones’s patent flour, 2 lbs.; treacle, 1 lb.; moist sugar, 3 ⁄ 4 lb.; butter, 2 1 ⁄ 2 oz.; spice, q. s.; mix as quickly as po ible, and bake it instantly. If the dough is expertly mixed up, the quality of the product is fully equal, if not superior, to that of any of the preceding formulæ. Obs. Gingerbread is either rolled out into thin sheets and cut into cakes or nuts ( GINGERBREAD NUTS ) with the top of a wine-gla or canister, or is formed into thick cakes, which are baked in ‘batches’ (ordinary GINGERBREAD ). Both varieties require a pretty brisk oven; the thinner kinds (nuts, .), especially, must be baked as crisp as po ible, without being burnt. The varieties called LEMON GINGERBREAD , CARAWAY G. , ., have a perceptible predominance of these flavouring ingredients. The addition of a little alum, di olved in water, makes the bread both lighter and crisper, and causes it to ripen quicker, but at the same time le ens its wholesomene .