SC - gyngerbrede help

[Ann Sasahara]

Greetings to the list

I've been going through the Hampton Court Cook Book and am having trouble
w/ the redaction of Tudor gyngerbrede.  I have followed the original
recipe and the redaction to the same result: incohesive squares of gooey
crumbs.  My question to the list, "is it supposed to be this friable or
is my book missing a line, like bake at 350?"

redaction:

1 lb honey, heatd to be runny
1 lb white bread crumbs
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper

mix ingredients together, until it's stiff. Turn out into a pan and press
down hard. Regrigerate 1 hour.  Turn out onto a cutting board and cut into
squares.  Stick a whole clove into the center of each square.

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. I have wasted a lot of honey and am
very tired.

1) Is the cookbook missing a line -- like bake at 350 F

2) Is period gyngerbrede supposed to be friable or gooey squares

pondering...

Ariann
ariann at nmia.com

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