I decided to use a gingerbread recipe in Aunt Dimity: Detective because I liked the idea of the utterly identical Pym sisters making row upon row of utterly identical gingerbread men. Also, gingerbread is a terribly traditional sort of thing to make, and the Pym sisters are nothing if not traditional.
The
Pym Sisters'
Gingerbread
Oven: 300 degrees Fahrenheit
Yield: 15 cookies
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3-cup honey
Grated rind of one lemon
6 tablespoons butter, diced
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2-teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 egg white, unbeaten
Edible gold leaf (available at craft stores)
Butter two baking sheets. Warm sugar, honey, and lemon rind slowly
over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Simmer for five more minutes. Add
butter to the hot pan. Stir until it melts. Remove from heat. Stir in
flour, baking powder, and ginger. Mix to a fairly stiff dough and roll
dough out thinly on a floured board. Cut to desired shape. Transfer
cookies to baking sheets with a palette knife or spatula. Bake for 20
minutes. Place on wire rack to cool.
When cool, use unbeaten egg white as glue to attach edible gold leaf in
desired pattern.
Reprinted from AUNT DIMITY': DETECTIVE by Nancy Atherton by permission of Penguin Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright 2001 by Nancy T. Atherton. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.