Every Christmas Fortnum and Mason sell their marvelous Lucifer's ginger and chili biscuits and every Christmas I buy at least six tins - two for us and the rest as gifts. This year I have decided that nothing is going to be bought for consumption at home; I am going to make all the sweets, biscuits and cakes in-house (although never fear Messrs Fortnum and Mason - I will still be buying foodie gifts from you).
Ingredients
- 110 grams self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 50 grams butter - room temperature
- 50 grams white granulated sugar
- 75 grams of golden syrup
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
- Sieve the flour, ginger, chili powder and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.
- Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Fold in the sugar.
- Add the golden syrup and mix well.
- Take one-twelfth of the mixture and use your fingers to form a firm, smooth ball about the size of a walnut.
- Place the ball on a lined baking sheet and flatten gently.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the mixture is used up. But make sure that the balls are well spaced out as they will spread during baking. I actually use two baking sheets to ensure that the biscuits have enough space.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are brown and cracked.
- Let the biscuits cool for a minute or two and then use a fish slice to move them onto a wire rack to cool. Don't wait longer than this before moving them onto the wire rack as they will stick to the parchment paper. However, they need to cool a little so that they are firm enough to move without losing their shape.
- Enjoy with a cup of tea.