London Tea Time Special: Sarah Nelson’s Original Celebrated Grasmere Gingerbread

sarah's

Gingerbread men and ginger snaps are the only associations I am familiar with when it comes to ginger confectionery. I love my ginger teas just as much. All along the gingerbread men-women-boy-girl-house only make their annual appearances at christmas but Marks and Spencers made christmas all year round with their gingerbread boy and girl selections. Ginger snaps are pretty much the usuals.

Ripped off their website:

Grasmere lies in the heart of the English Lake District National Park, just north of Lake Windermere. This world famous village is a classic tourist attraction; here is Dove Cottage, the home of the English Poet William Wordsworth, it is also the home of Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere Gingerbread. Fans of their gingerbread include celebrities like Jamie Oliver, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Since 1854, Sarah Nelson’s Original Celebrated Grasmere Gingerbread has come a long way and it started out with a lady called Sarah Nelson who baked to earn a living. Rum Butter is what they sell as well but I didn’t get my hands on that. They also specialise in gingerbread wedding favours as ginger has been associated with love, passion and fertility – How novel!


gingerbread

I was surprised to find my gingerbread double wrapped in a paper package – almost as if I was back in the olden times where packaging was neutral and minimalistic. Peeling open the wrappers to unveil browned squares that remind me of rye bread was a greater surprise. Biting into one gave the jaw some good exercise but this was easy to love. Crumbly and hard, it was almost like a gingerbread rock to some extent and brown sugar shavings but the flavours captured were beautiful. Loved the candied ginger bits folded in and how old fashioned this way. Who ever said gingerbread men had to taste the way they do now? Crunching my way through the delight made tea so blissful.

For the interested, Sarah Nelson’s Original Celebrated Grasmere Gingerbread can only be purchased from The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop - tucked away in the corner of St. Oswalds’s Churchyard, next to the Wordsworth Hotel. There are apparently knock offs around Grasmere so beware of imitations!

Grasmere’s Gingerbread
National Grid Reference; Easting: 33370, Northing: 50740.

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