Jamie Oliver's Ultimate Gingerbread

We are so intrigued by this gingerbread from Jamie Oliver. It doesn't look like anything like gingerbread to us, and yet it also looks irresistibly delicious.

Oliver says that this recipe is his attempt to replicate a recipe from a shop in the Lake District that he visited years ago. Their recipe is 150 years old, and secret, of course. So he tried to copy it. This one is very unusual; it sounds more like a graham cracker to us. It actually uses crumbled storebought shortbread (you could also use your own) and some of the gingery crumbs are pressed into the hot cookies right after baking.

It looks delicious and versatile — a great afternoon snack, but also good with tea or ice cream. Has anyone tried this one?

• Get the recipe: Ultimate Gingerbread

(Image: Chris Terry for Cook w)

Comments (6)

I haven't tried it, but I want to! It looks lovely.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on March 11th 2009 at 10:30am
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This looks great. I know what treacle and golden syrup are, but what is mixed peel? Is it citrus zest or something else?

posted by lizaboo on March 11th 2009 at 10:51am
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That's Grasmere Gingerbread! When I went up to visit the Lake District, I made sure to swing by Grasmere to try it. When fresh, it's slightly chewy and very delicious. A little hard if left to sit out. Thanks for the link to the recipe!

posted by su-lin on March 11th 2009 at 11:20am
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Kind of looks like a very thin date square!

Mixed peel is mixed chopped candied citrus peel.

posted by angorian on March 11th 2009 at 12:21pm
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Also, any recipe calling for "golden syrup" means "Tate & Lyle's Golden Syrup" and you really can't substitute something else for it and get the same flavour. Other things might work, but there's something indefinable about that particular flavour that's needed to make a number of British recipes work correctly.

Also, if you buy your mixed peel, check that it's ACTUALLY citrus... many cheap brands now substitute in quite a lot of rutabaga!

posted by angorian on March 11th 2009 at 12:25pm
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su-lin is right. it's grasmere gingerbread. i had some while on my way to visit wordsworth's dove cottage. DELICIOUS.

posted by FF on March 11th 2009 at 8:12pm
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