I love the flavours of autumn; all the spices come out to play. McVities has brought out these Mini Gingerbread Men in portion-controlled bags. The design of the bag is rather cute, with gingerbread men with sunglasses, walking their dogs, and... what is the gingerbread man bottom right doing? Is that a lamp chop or a bag of swag? Oh well, perhaps it is best to focus on the contents.

Many gingerbread recipes contain egg, but not all do. It’s perfectly possible to make gingerbread without using egg as golden syrup can be used to bind the ingredients together. Can vegans eat gingerbread? Also, for best results, if your cake looks perfect on top, but the skewer has a smear of batter on it, cover it with tin foil and bake for longer to prevent it from burning and drying out. 👩‍🍳 Substitutions Stem ginger - to save money, swap for crystalised ginger, 2 tablespoon of fresh ginger, peeled and grated. Or a much cheaper way is to use mixed peel for citrus flavours with a similar texture While melting butter and sugar mix, scrape the bottom of the pan to test if you can feel grit at the bottom. If you can, then the sugar has not dissolved yet!This Jamaican ginger cake is delicious on its own, but you can also serve it with some other treats to make it even more special: Zesty - for an extra warming taste, you can stir citrus zests like lemon and orange zest as I do in my boil and simmer cake

Plain flour - for a gluten free Jamaican ginger stem cake, use GF plain or all-purpose flour with ⅓ teaspoon xanthan gum for a less crumbly cake Ginger trifle - it is particularly luxurious when replacing plain sponge in this pear and ginger trifle for a festive treat Gingerbread takes many forms, but it’s rarely an actual bread or cake. Instead, at least in the UK, gingerbread commonly refers to a type of thin biscuit or cookie that’s flavoured with ginger. The texture of gingerbread should be firm, yet with a slight softness. Key tips: Don't open the oven until 50 minutes is up and don't attempt to skewer test a wobbly top cake as it may sink. Do not boil the syrup mixture while melting with the butter and sugar as you would be essentially making toffee. This can result in a hard, dry cake. Try opting for low to medium heat at a pushUnsalted Butter - for a delicious, moist crumb. If using salted butter, omit the extra salt in this recipe. Also note, this can be used straight out of the fridge If you avoid a small pan to melt the sugars, syrups, and butter, you can use a larger pan as a mixing bowl too Dark brown sugar - or dark muscovado sugar, for a darker sweet cake. If using light brown sugar, it will result in a paler cake Golden syrup - swap for the syrup that comes with stem ginger - it tastes incredible with the extra boost in flavour. Or use light corn syrup, agave, etc Bicarbonate of soda - if swapping for baking powder, I recommend using self-raising flour too, but it won't be as light or moist

Bicarbonate of soda - or baking soda, not baking powder, so that it reacts with the acids in the cake mix

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Milk - swap for any plant based milk of your choice, or a mix of milk and soured cream for a tangy flavour. Alternatively, you can swap 30 ml milk for 2 tbsps of ginger wine Gingerbread is typically made of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and golden syrup. It is often decorated with icing, chocolate or sweets. A cup of tea - it's perfect to wash away the spicy sugars, especially a cup of spiced chai or a fragrant Earl Grey for an afternoon tea treat after an array of sandwiches

To avoid lumps in the cake batter, sift the flour, bicarb, and spices and patiently stir in a little bit at a time by hand or into a bowl of a stand mixerHeating- If you want to eat the next day, defrost in the fridge if required and microwave a slice for 30 seconds and serve with hot custard or melty ginger ice cream 💡Pro Tips But is gingerbread suitable for vegans? Or do we need to give up eating this tasty sweet treat once we go vegan? Read on to find out everything you need to know about when gingerbread is vegan and when it isn’t… What is gingerbread made of? Instead of a 2lb loaf tin, you can divide the mixture and make 2 x 1lb loaf cakes and share one as a gift, or eat one now, save the other the flavours to meld