Mum's Sticky Black Gingerbread

This was a family favourite from as far back as I can recall. It has a wonderful deep rich smell as it's cooking, and a gorgeous gingery moistness when you eat it. The top is crispy with a hint of tackiness, and if you keep some of the gingerbread wrapped up in the parchment and sealed away from the air in a container or wrapped in foil, you'll be rewarded in a week or two with a glorious stickiness as it matures.

The original recipe is in old-fashioned units, I've added the metric approximations that Delia uses so hopefully they'll work!

Ingredients:

8 oz (225 g) black treacle

8 oz (225 g) butter

8 oz (225 g) soft brown sugar

2 beaten eggs

12 oz (350 g) plain flour

2 dsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

10 fl oz (275 ml) milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150 C. Line and grease a deep-sided tin approx 7" x 11" (18 x 28 cm) (ungreased parchment paper works fine).

2. Put treacle, butter and sugar into a saucepan. Stir over gentle heat until melted together, then remove from heat.

3. Beat eggs and stir into mixture. Sift flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt into mixture and stir in well.

4. Warm milk to blood heat. Put bicarb into a bowl and pour the milk over. Stir quickly and thoroughly into the saucepan, Pour mixture into tin.

5. Bake for 1 1/2 hours and cool tray on a wire rack.


When I'm making this gingerbread, I like to throw in some extra ginger if I've some handy - either chopped crystallised ginger, or freeze-dried work really well.