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scots gingerbread (old scottish recipe)

(1 rating)
frenchtutor avatar
Recipe by
Susan Feliciano
@frenchtutor
Oak Ridge, TN

Here is another old Scottish recipe that is printed on the linen towel I have hanging on my kitchen wall. I love the way people were able to cook back then - with such scanty directions! I think cooks back then just KNEW some things so they didn't have to be put in the recipe. Such as, preheat the oven and what a proper baking temperature is. How to prepare a pan. How long to cool before cutting or removing from the pan. If you can find sorghum in your area, by all means use it. I get it from the Guenther Family in Muddy Pond (Monterey, TN). It's like molasses, but milder. It's the closest thing we have to British Treacle, which is what the original recipe called for.

(1 rating)
yield 16 serving(s)
prep time 15 Min
cook time 45 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For scots gingerbread (old scottish recipe)

  • 1 c
    (8 oz) butter, softened
  • 12 oz
    flour (1/2 whole wheat if available)
  • 4 oz
    oats (quick or old fashioned)
  • 1/4 c
    cream
  • 12 oz
    sorghum (or 3/4 cup molasses mixed with 3/4 cup dark karo syrup)
  • 1 oz
    fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/4 c
    grated lemon peel

How To Make scots gingerbread (old scottish recipe)

  • 1
    Original version: Beat 8 oz. butter to a cream. Mix with 12 oz. flour, 4 oz. oatmeal, 1/2 gill cream. Stir in 12 oz. treacle, 1 oz. green ginger, 4 oz. lemon peel cut into fine shreds. Work the whole into a light dough. Bake in a greased tin for 45 minutes.
  • 2
    Modern version: Cream the butter. Beat in flour, oats, and cream. Add in sorghum, ginger, and lemon peel. (This looks like a lot of peel. I wouldn't pack it down in the cup.) Combine well.
  • 3
    Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan. Spread batter into prepared pan.
  • 4
    Bake at 350 to 375 degrees about 40-45 minutes. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Since no temperature was given in the recipe, and temperatures varied greatly back then, it's hard to judge how long to cook it.
  • 5
    Cool 10 minutes in pan. May cut and serve from pan, or turn out onto serving plate and slice to serve.
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