Fochabers Gingerbread

I know as a cookbook writer I’m not supposed to have a favourite recipe (it’s the same with children) but I am completely and utterly in love with this particular ginger fruit cake which I felt compelled to make again after my podcast last week with Alex Johnson.

Like so many regional gingerbreads the true origins of this cake have been lost in time. It's high fruit content and the use of beer makes it stand out from other gingerbreads although it still manages to be much lighter than a traditional ‘plum’ fruit cake we associate with Christmas.

Fochabers is a small town located on the east bank of the River Spey not far from Elgin. I’ve put my own spin on Miss Bella Mitchell’s recipe which I found in The Scot’s Kitchen by F. Marian McNeill. My version also appears in my first book First Catch Your Gingerbread.

(For the record, I definitely do not have a favourite child although if either one of my boys decides to present me with this cake in the future, they could slip into the poll position.😂)