Fairings were originally edible treats that were available at fairs in England. They have been sold at fairs for hundreds of years. This is a recipe is for Cornish Fairings. They were popular in the 19th century. The Cornish Fairings are a crunchy biscuit, heavily flavoured with spices, particularly ginger. But that is not the only spice. The addition of cinnamon and mixed spice make these a very tasty biscuit. In the 19th century fairings were also little porcelain trinkets.
This is a quick and easy recipe. From start to finish the recipe doesn’t take an hour. Not only is the time required very little but it is a very simple recipe.
Those who wish can also reduce clean up by using only two pots, by measuring ingredients directly into them. Of course I used more, simply to show the individual ingredients for the video.
Weigh the wet ingredients into a saucepan. The dry ingredients go into a bowl. Then simply combine the wet and dry ingredients. How simple is that?
Once mixed to a smooth paste the dough is divided into 18 balls, and placed on a baking tray. Baking takes just 12 to 15 minutes. The precise time depends on how crunch you want your biscuits to be.
My Bake
I used 2 baking trays. Each had 9 balls of dough. I baked them for 13 minutes. They spread a little and looked perfectly baked. I took them out of the oven and gently pressed the tops to flatten the biscuits a little. I allowed them to cool on the trays for 2 or 3 minutes. Then I transferred them to a rack for cooling.
Once completely cooled the biscuits had a lovely crisp crunch. They also were light and airy. The crunchy texture felt good in my mouth. Dunking them in tea is very good too.
For another simple recipe why not try Quick & Easy Cherry Scones.
Cornish Fairings – Quick & Easy
Course: Biscuits, CookiesCuisine: English, CornishDifficulty: Easy18
servings15
minutes15
minutesIngredients
164g(1 cup + 2 tbps, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour
75g(5 tbsp+1 tsp) unsalted butter
75g(6 packed tbsp) light brown sugar
45ml(3 tbsp) golden syrup(or corn syrup, honey etc)
6g(2 tsp) ground ginger, adjust to taste
4g(1 1/2 tsp) mixed spice, adjust to taste
4g(1 1/2 tsp) ground cinnamon, adjust to taste
3g(1/2 tsp) salt
6g(1 1/2 tsp) baking powder
6g(1 1/2 tsp) baking soda
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
- Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter, sugar, spices and golden syrup into a saucepan, stirring, until all is combined.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt into the flour and stir well to combine.
- Pour the wet mixture into the flour and stir until fully combined into a smooth paste.
- Divide the paste into 18 equally sized balls, about the size of a walnut. In weight that is about 22g.
- Place each ball on the baking trays leaving a large gap between each.
- You can flatten the balls slightly if you wish.
- Bake the biscuits in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crunchy you want them to be. More time means they will be harder.
- Take the biscuits out of the oven and gently press the tops to flatten them.
- After 2 or 3 minutes transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.