Catch a bonfire

It was a bonfire weekend with a difference. The fog, no doubt caused by the cumulative smoke of bonfires held during the week, clung low to the lampposts and shop windows as faint slivers of sun started to poke through the gloom. On bonfire and pre-Christmas winters in The Time Before I had watched fireworks fly in friends' back gardens, seen empty bottles of lager shot out of the sky from the top of listed buildings and drystone walls start to burn. These incidents all had one thing in common; the tar-like, smoky smell that seemed to linger in the air. Yesterday I set out to recreate that smell, and so evoke the feel of those nights out, by making some bonfire gingerbread. 

On the player was Yes' 1991 re-union album "Union" that featured all but four of the band's previous members up to that point. It's partly a case of too many cooks spoil the broth amongst some genuinely stirring moments including the opening track and the hymn-like anthem "The More We Live- Let Go" . It's a record that's worth checking out and a link is at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP59Fs_hB7C2eBJv0-85it-EmMlGCAcua 

The ingredients for this gingerbread are: 

100 grams of Unsalted Butter.

200 grams of Treacle.

100 grams of Demerara Sugar. 

A tablespoon of Ground Ginger.

A teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon. 

200 ml of craft Porter. I used Magic Rock Porter. 

3 beaten Eggs

250 grams of Self-Raising Flour. 

The method is:

1. Combine the Butter, Treacle, Sugar, Ginger and Cinnamon in a small saucepan. On a low heat mix the ingredients together until the Butter is melted and the Sugar dissolved. 

2. Beat the Eggs together in a measuring jug then add the Porter to the jug and mix the Porter into the Eggs. 

3. Pour the Butter and Treacle mixture into a mixing bowl and add the Eggs and Porter mixture. 

4. Add the Self-Raising Flour to the mixing bowl and stir it into the other ingredients. 

5. Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin and cook on Gas Mark 4 for 40 minutes.

6. Turn out onto a wire rack and then, when cooled, cut into cubes prior to serving.

The Treacle and Porter did the job of giving the Gingerbread a burnt feel that evoked memories of dark winter nights in front of warm fires during a time long vanished.