Proper Ginger Fairings

Another recipe from the old 6 page leaflet entitled Cornwall Federation of Women’s Institute as mentioned before. I posted a Fairing recipe many moons ago but this one is very different and totally delicious. I will type it out as written:

“ A Fairing was a gift brought from a fair by children to parents or parents to children. It could consist of fruit, biscuits or sweets. The original Ginger Fairing was two ginger biscuits and two sugared almonds packaged by a Truro lady.”

4 ozs flour [plain, of course]

2 ozs margarine [I used butter!]

2 tablespoons golden syrup

¼ teaspoonful salt

2 ozs gran sugar [I used caster]

Lemon rind or peel

1 level teaspoonful each of: baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, mixed spice.

“Mix all dry ingredients except sugar. Rub in fat, add sugar. Heat syrup till it runs and add to the mixture. Roll in balls the size of a walnut, place on a greased tin on the top shelf of a fairly hot oven. When biscuits begin to colour remove to the lower shelf where they will begin to flop and crack.”

Thats sounded easy. Didn’t they turn out wonderfully?

Notes: I preheated my fan oven to 190C then halfway through lowered it to 160C. My oven is the same temperature, more or less, whatever shelf you use! I left the door open for a moment or two after about 7-8 mins. Hopefully allowing them to “flop”.

I reckoned the baking time was approx 13-14 minutes. This quantity made 18 biscuits. More pics on my Blog.

I have presumed the lemon peel was grated, using just the zest?

Leave plenty of room on your buttered baking sheet for the biscuits to spread.

I can honestly tell you that these are the very best ginger fairings I have ever made or tasted.

Trust me!!