Ambleside Gingerbread

I have a really good gingerbread recipe, that I won't share with anyone, and I mean anyone. I won't even give it to my dad. So when we were in Britain I picked up a recipe book called Favourite Lakeland Recipes, and decided to make Ambleside Gingerbread from it. I am afraid all the measurements are in pounds and ounces, so you'll need a weighing scale.

Ingredients:
1 lb flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
1 oz ground ginger
4 oz lard
5 oz brown sugar (it calls for demerara sugar, but I didn't have any)
3 oz chopped crystallised ginger
8 oz Tate & Lyles Golden Syrup, Corn Syrup will do if you can't find golden syrup
1 beaten egg
Pinch salt
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 pint (around 160 ml) milk



Grease a 9" x 13 " baking pan and line with parchment paper. Set oven to 350 oF. Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and ground ginger into a large bowl. Cut up the lard into small pieces, and rub in with the fingertips. Try hard not to sneeze too many times, because the ginger gets up your hose ;)



Stir in sugar, crystallised ginger and nutmeg.



Warm the syrup and milk together in a pan, then pour on to the dry ingredients and mix well.



Add the beaten egg, and mix well.



Pour into prepared baking tin. I found this a stiff dough, and needed to smooth out the top.




Bake at 350 oF for an hour.




Leave in the tin for 1/2 hour, if you can!! Then turn out on to a wire rack. Cut into squares.




A couple of things. I can't take a decent photo to save myself, so sorry about that. This smells so good. As long as you like ginger you will like this cake. I found it a bit "gingery" and next time I make it I will cut the ground ginger down to a couple of heaped teaspoons. This cake is also a bit dry. I am used to my other gingerbread which is very light and moist. I am not sure if adding a bit more milk would help, I can't see it doing any harm. Again I am thinking of my "top secret" recipe here!!!!! The recipe says it keeps really well, so maybe it tastes even better the next day, just like stew does?

I will make this again.