The next morning, under the strip lights in the Scrimengor and Grandson’s Bakery, there’s me and Lucy, Izz and Patrick, Leo and Sully standing in white coats and hairnets.
We’re looking down at a single sheet of paper, inscribed with green felt tip years ago, the recipe handwritten by my mum and gifted to me, and – because the measurements aren’t counted in pounds and ounces or grams, or even in cups, but in Mum’s trusty old glass pudding bowl which she’d use to scoop up ingredients and level them off with a spatula like she was making sandcastles instead of biscuits – I’ve brought along the very pudding bowl she always used.
Everyone assembled has been warned that both the scrap of paper and the glass bowl are priceless so they’re standing with their hands by their sides peering down at them on the stainless steel workstation like wise men around the manger.
The bakery, in spite of being little more than an industrial unit – all glass, white tile and steel – is warm from the morning’s loaf baking. The delivery men have long since filled their vans and left on their rounds, and the ovens are waiting.
I read Mum’s recipe aloud and it feels like I’m incanting a spell.
Large Batch Gingerbread
For my darling Margi, carrying on the tradition
This is sufficient to make three of the larger Wheaton cottages, or one school and the church.
Remember to make enough gingerbread men, stars, hearts, etc., with the remainder after cutting-out for Grotto visitors to eat.
Ingredients
12 bowls of plain flour
2 bowls of demerara
2 packs of butter, unsalted
4 bowls of golden syrup
Quarter bowl made up of equal amounts ground ginger and ground cinnamon (it ought to be fiery)
Pinch of ground cloves or nutmeg (you want it to smell wonderful)
Salt, half a tablespoon
3 tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate
Instructions
Heat the butter, sugar and syrup until liquid
Mix all dry ingredients in your largest bowl
Pour wet over dry and mix thoroughly until you have a firm dough
Get your hands in and add a splash of water if it won’t bind
Refrigerate, covered tightly with clean cloth
Make a cup of tea and put your feet up (and have a decent sherry in your pantry for when you have company baking)
Heat the ovens. 180 degrees.
Knead then roll between two sheets of parchment using Dad’s spacers to achieve the right thickness
Lay the gingerbread slab on top of your template and begin cutting
Transfer cut-outs to baking parchment on your largest trays
Thirteen minutes in the oven should be long enough. Use your nose.
