Ginger Biscuits with Lemon Icing

08Mar08

Why am I such a complete and total scatterbrain? Three days ago I left my wallet on the train. Yep, I lost my wallet, with all my cards, cash, gift vouchers and a few other bits and pieces.

Let me tell you what happened and you will see why I’m such an idiot…

After my Spanish class in the city on Tuesday, I was running rather late for the train. As I was sprinting to the station, I pulled my wallet out of my handbag, quickly whipped out my ticket, popped it in the ticket machine and kept running towards the train. I made it just as the doors were about to close and I plonked myself on a double-seater in the corner of the train carriage. At this stage, I had my handbag over my shoulder, my wallet in one hand and my books cradled under the opposite arm. Absolutely puffed, I threw my bag onto the adjacent seat and threw the wallet on top. I sat down, opened up my workbook for revision and after twenty minutes of being totally engrossed and half confused with irregular verbs, I picked up my bag and departed the train at my station, leaving the wallet on the seat.

As I got off the platform, I walked to my car in the parking bay and drove to the supermarket. I reached inside my handbag to get take my wallet out and it was at that moment I realised I had left it on the train. My first reaction? “Oh no oh no oh no!” After 5 seconds of thought, “Fuck fuck fuck!!!!!!” (I curse a lot). I was sooooo annoyed with myself for being so careless! Then I suddenly had the brilliant silly idea of driving to the end of the train line to see if I could search the train once it was stationary. I drove sped to the last station of the line and miraculously made it. I searched my seat, but someone had taken it. It was inevitable that someone would take it, but it’s been three days since I’ve lost it and as no-one has handed it in, I’ve had to get everything replaced. Although it has been a hassle to cancel my credit cards, yes I have more than one, and replace the others, it could have been worse. I could have lost my phone, my iPod or my SLR camera (eeek!!) so I’m not too upset. It was my own fault anyway :(

It’s quite odd really, I have an excellent and somewhat freaky memory and I’m very good with quoting facts, lines from movies/television and I always remember people’s names and faces, but I tend to forget the simple everyday things. Other stupid things I have done:

• As a teen, I would often leave the keys to the house still in the lock in the mornings and as I returned from school, they would still be hanging there. I’m surprised no-one has ever found them and stolen everything in my house.
• Twice after cooking, I have forgotten to turn the oven off and it would be on for hours after I had cleaned up and finished. I would only realise it was still turned on when I was back in the kitchen and it would feel strangely warm. The first time I left it on, I actually left the house for a while. I’m simply amazed I didn’t burn the house down.
• I have an old car and it doesn’t have automatic central locking, so I have to manually lock it with my keys or hold the door handle in as I close the door. I’ve locked my keys in the car many times, sometimes with the with the keys still in the ignition (but the car turned off). I’ve called my parents and boyfriend many times to bring a spare set of keys to where ever I am. Let’s just say they get rather annoyed!

See how stupid I can be? Luckily for me, nothing went wrong with the batch of biscuits I made this afternoon. And yes, don’t worry, the oven is switched off! :D

Ginger Biscuits with Lemon Icing

This recipe is a simple one and makes wonderfully spiced biscuits. They aren’t overly sweet and the crystallised ginger provides a really nice subtle peppery aftertaste. The touch of lemon icing provides a hint of sweetness and tang and were absolutely magnificent with a glass of milk.

Adapted from a recipe by Bill Granger in ‘Holiday’.

175g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

100g (¾ cup) icing sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

250g (2 cups) plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

100g crystallised ginger, very finely chopped

Lemon Icing

60g ( ½ cup) icing sugar

a tablespoon of lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for a minute until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract.
3. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and ground spices over the butter mixture. Add the crystallised ginger. Gently combine until the flour disappears.
4. Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and set out onto the baking trays. Lightly squish the balls with the palm of your hand.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown. Allow to cool on a baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. For the icing, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Ice the biscuits however you like and allow to set.

Filed under: cookies/biscuits, recipes   |  18 Comments
Tags: baking, biscuit, cinnamon, cookie, ginger, lemon icing, nutmeg, recipe