Day 4 - Brandy Snaps

So the sweets for Day 4 are Brandy Snaps, a successful foray into these types of biscuits courtesy of the Great British Bake Off cookbook. As far as biscuits go, these were pretty straightforward to make and are tasty. 

Brandy Snaps

Recipe

50g butter

50g demerara sugar

50g golden syrup

50 g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/350oF/gas 4 and line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper. This would also be a good time to prepare a wooden spoon (used to shape the snaps) by oiling the handle.

2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a heavy based pan over a low heat, stirring occasionally. All the sugar should be dissolved but the mixture should not boil.

3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 2 minutes, then sift in the flour and ginger. Finally add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

4. Use one rounded teaspoonful of the mixture to make a round shape for the biscuit. Make four biscuits at a time on the baking sheet spacing them 10cm apart. When the mixture becomes too firm to spoon onto the baking sheet, you can roll it into balls using your hands. Only make one baking sheet at a time as they need to be shaped while they are still warm and will dry out too quickly if you have loads to get through.

5. Bake the biscuits for 10-15 mins until the mixture has spread out and has a dark golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to firm up for a minute. You should be able to lift it using a palette knife.

6. Quickly roll the warm biscuit, lacy side out, around the handle of the oiled wooden spoon and press gently to seal it. I found that using a smaller spoon gave smaller curls, you can choose the size depending on what look you are going for. Leave them to cool on a wire rack and repeat for the rest of the mixture.

7. For chocolate dipped brandy snaps, gently melt some milk chocolate in the microwave on a medium heat for 30 second bursts, stirring in between. Dip the biscuit into the chocolate and leave to dry completely on a non-stick baking sheet.

My favourite type of recipe, easy to make & tastes great. Although one thing confuses me, why are they called Brandy Snaps when there is no brandy in them?? Surely they should be called Ginger Snaps... If anyone can shed light on this mystery I would be very grateful!

Peace & Love

xx