Case #4: Jabez Wilson’s Spicy Ginger Nuts

A little edible glitter added to the finished biscuits is purely optional,
but it is reminiscent of the “3 gilt balls” hanging outside Jabez Wilson’s pawn shop.

I was very taken with Mr Jabez Wilson’s blazing red hair when he visited 221 Baker Street during The Adventure of the Redheaded League. Any recipe devoted to that story has to feature ginger in some way, so I’ve chosen ginger nuts as a starting point. These old fashioned biscuits are normally rather simple (like Mr Wilson himself, poor soul,) but we can’t stop with just the sort of basic bake you could find in any shop. We’ll aim, like Mr Holmes, at something “outside of the conventions and humdrum of everyday life.” This variation on a classic is brought to you by the letter A, since that’s the section Mr Wilson was copying so laboriously from the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

To a basic ginger nut recipe we’ll add Aniseed, Allspice, Apples, Apricots, and Almonds. Strangely enough, ginger nuts don’t usually contain nuts. They got that name because they are traditionally very  hard and crunchy, like a tough nut. This version, by contrast, does contain nuts and is actually rather soft and chewy due to the addition of the dried fruit and liquid sweeteners. To make these biscuits gingery enough for even the Redheaded League, there will be freshly grated and candied ginger in the mix in addition to the usual powdered variety. I’m also going to put in a little hot pepper. It doesn’t start with A, but it does go with fiery red hair.

I must tell you that when I mentioned the name of my new recipe to Dr Watson he laughed rather coarsely and said something about the carpet matching the drapes. I never understand that man’s pawky sense of humour. I’m sure there’s never been anything wrong with the carpet or drapes in this house! Well anyway, he still ate a whole plateful of them when they were warm out of the oven.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp allspice 

1 tsp cayenne or Aleppo pepper 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1-2 inch knob of fresh ginger, grated

1 egg

1 tbsp water

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp corn syrup or molasses 

1/2 cup toasted and chopped almonds *

1/3 cup chopped dried apples *

1/3 cup chopped dried apricots *

1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger *

* I chopped my fruit and nuts fairly small, but you can change that if you want a chunkier biscuit.

Optional: edible gold glitter for decoration 

Three gingers

The “A” team. Almonds, apples, apricots, aniseed and allspice.
Add some cayenne pepper—or Aleppo if you’ve got it!

Combine the flour, spices, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a larger bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and smooth. Mix in grated fresh ginger. Mix in egg. Mix in water and liquid sweeteners until well combined and light. 

Add the flour mixture in about three steps and incorporate well. 

Add almonds, apples, apricots and crystallized ginger. Chill the dough for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°.

The ginger nut dough just before incorporating the fruit and nuts

Putting in a bunch of ingredients based on the alphabet isn’t usually how I’d develop a recipe. However, I tasted the dough at this stage (because I live in the 19th century and I’m not worried about raw eggs) and I think these ginger nuts are going to be really good!

When the dough is chilled and the oven preheated to 350° take about a tablespoon of the dough at a time and roll it into balls. Set them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown. This takes about 8-10 minutes depending on the size and the oven. To keep the ginger nuts soft and chewy, be sure not to over bake them.

You can finish the cookies with a sprinkling of edible glitter when they’ve cooled down if you would like to reproduce the effect shown in the photo at the top of the blog.

Serving suggestion: enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea, a good book, and—if possible—a redhead.