a spice biscuit scented with eastern promise

ginger snaps with added oomph!

I have always loved ginger biscuits, in fact any kind of spice biscuit. They are perfumed with adventure and history; pungent with the sweep of the trade winds and the Spice Islands. At medieval fairs, “fairings” (small ginger biscuits) were sold as treats for children and sweetheart's love tokens.

Christmas feasts across Europe are scented with simple spice biscuits, from Dutch Speculaas eaten on St Nicholas Eve (5 December) to German Pfeffernüsse, Polish Pierniki and Danish Pebernødder. Sweden has its Pepparkakor and on Epiphany (January 6) Piparkakut are eaten in Finland.  
So whether it is the thin melt-in-your mouth type or a chewy little ginger number that is best accompanied by a mug of strong builders' tea, I love them all, although have never made one. What I wanted was something, a bit like a Cornish fairing or a gingersnap - something that was crackled and crisp on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside.

Many English spice biscuits and cake recipes require "mixed spice" - a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace, coriander, allspice and cloves. I had wondered whether it was possible to substitute other classic spice blends with mixed spice. It was time to experiment.

Strangely, the first idea I had was to cook a parsnip cake with quatre epices, a French spice blend of pepper, ginger, cloves and nutmeg; (sometimes also including cinnamon and allspice, depending on whether it is used in French sausages or in gingerbread). The results were quite successful, although I need to tweak the recipe a bit before posting here, so watch this space.

So take garam masala spice mix. Garam masala is a popular blend from the Indian sub continent and contains a varying mixture of pepper, cardamom, cloves, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Would it be such a leap of the imagination to go from using mixed spice, to quatre epices to say garam masala? Well, the proof would be in the biscuit.

I do find some biscuits a little too sweet for my taste, so I had decided to add some lemon zest to my prototype spice biscuits. However a trawl of the pantry only turned up a few dried sour fruits (cherries and barberries). Other possible sour notes were a variety of vinegars and a tub of tamarind paste. Some old English cake recipes use cider vinegar as a raising agent instead of using eggs. Since I wasn't sure what the chemical and physical properties of using vinegar in my biscuits would be (knowing my luck they would raise up and make a bid for freedom from their oven prison). So erring, on the side of caution, this left the tamarind paste. A quick dip of a finger into the paste confirmed that it was eye-wateringly tart. Perfect.

Tamarind is commonly used in south East Asian cooking, from sweet and sour fish, to stir fries and on to sticky sweets. My upbringing in Malaysia and return to England, seemed to me to give this recipe a degree of synchronicity, or not . . .

Biscuits are baked. They are very crisp but slightly chewy on the inside. (Although the few that were left over did soften up after a few days without going stale).They were beautifully crackled, which was exciting for me as I had never cooked a crackled biscuit before and it just seemed to happen without me even doing anything! The sour cherries and barberries added a pleasant tart and chewy note and all-in-all I was rather pleased with the result.

I was actually feeling quite smug. I felt as if I had "invented" something, created using a bit of imagination and family history. I have to say that this sense of self-satisfaction went firmly back into a dark box where it belongs, when I saw the incomparable Dan Lepard's recipe Tamarind Spice biscuits in the Guardian Newspaper's Magazine. Curses! 

What I had thought was a recipe born of opportunity and my own personal history turned out to lack any originality at all. And if I am honest, Dan Lepard's version was much better than mine. I know 'cos I tried his. Instead of sour fruit, he had included glacé ginger, which packed an extra spicy ginger punch. Genius.

Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
125g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
25g tamarind paste
1 medium egg
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garam masala
200g chopped glacé ginger (or crystallised ginger)
250g plain flour (or a gluten-free mix)
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

directions:

1. Beat the softened butter with the sugar and tamarind. When beginning to smooth, add the egg and continue to beat until smooth.
2. Sift the flour together with the bicarbonate of soda and the spices.
3. Fold it into the mixture and ensure that it is well distributed.
4. Stir in the chopped ginger.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 170C / Gas Mark 3.
6. Take lumps of the biscuit mixture, about the size of small walnuts. Roll into a ball. (You might find this easier if your hands are slightly dampened).
7. Put them on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment, about 5 centimetres apart (as the biscuits will spread when they are cooking).
8. While Dan Lepard said cook for 15 minutes, a trial batch of 3 biscuits in my oven only took 12 minutes. I think it is worth doing a trial run, and then you, the cook, get to road test the biscuits while the next batch is cooking. (For research purposes only, of course!)
9. Half-way through cooking, turn them in the oven, as this will ensure they cook evenly. You can also give the tray a sharp tap on a work surface before putting the biscuits back in the oven, as that will ensure the biscuits both spread and crackle.

tips:

• Don't do what I did, which was to put half the biscuit mixture in the fridge, while cooking the first batch. While they were lovely and chewy, the biscuits made with a cold mixture remained quite small and ball-shaped, with little crackle. Still tasted good though.
• I do think that the glacé or crystallised ginger is quite a grown-up flavour and may be a little bitter for younger palates, where my first idea of using sour fruits or even raisins or sultanas would be a good substitution.