SC - gyngerbrede help

[Ann Sasahara]

Greetings

On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> As far as I can tell, the texture you're looking for is somewhere
> between a slightly sticky fudge and commercial sesame halvah.
>  
> <snip>
> > 1 lb honey, heatd to be runny
> > 1 lb white bread crumbs
> <snip again>
> > variation: add red food colouring or saunderys during the mixing.  Arrange
> > both white and red squares on the serving platter.
> > 
> > I tried both methods.  The red "dough" had more moisture from the food
> > coloring.  That meant it pressed into the brownie pan more evenly than the
> > drier white mix, but both fell apart during the cutting and cloving phase.
> > I tried adding more crumbs, but that made a drier dough that fell apart as
> > it was turned out onto the cutting board -- after having been in the
> > freezer for 3 hrs.  Batch number 4, I added more honey.  It stuck to my
> > fingers while I was pressing it into the pan.  Wetting my fingers w/ water
> > helped.  Refrigeration did not help.
> 
> Considerations: altitude, humidity, and the biggie, since this recipe

altitude: 5,175
humidity: 100% it was raining at the time, but Albuquerque generally has
+/-10% 


> was redacted, in theory, by Europeans, did you use the "industrial
> standard" of fresh white bread crumbs as are commonly used in Europe, or
> did you use the dry, slightly toasted crumbs in a bag or tin found in
> the USA? If the latter, you might try getting one of those unsliced

Come to think of it, I made my own crumbs.  I toasted the bread and ran it
through the food processor.


> white "Pullman" loaves from a bakery (you know, the ones Florence
> Henderson always used to fry in the oil commercials on TV?), cutting off
> the crust, and pulverizing the whole thing in a food processor. Not only
> is this product obviously moister, but the proportions of bread mass to
> honey mass would differ greatly as a result. I'm sure you could do it
> with dry bread crumbs, but the proportions in your recipe might have to
> be altered. Also, as I mentioned, the humidity levels of wherever you
> live could well be a factor. Altitude somewhat less so.


I can see now that it should have been fresh bread crumbs.  That would
definitely change the moisture and the texture.

If Oscar Wilde were here, he might say, 'the British and the Americans are
two people separated by a common recipe'.


> Oh, you might also consider trying to find some saunders: it's a powder,
> so it wouldn't drastically affect the moistness of the gingebrede.
>  
> Adamantius

I actually have red sandalwood leftover from an Oestra incense recipe I
got out of Scott Cunningham's "Oils, Incenses and Brews".  I'm not sure
how edible it is.  Is sandalwood safely edible? 

If not, it still smells lovely,

Ariann

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