Traditional Classic Edinburgh Gingerbread - Larder Love (2024)

Gingerbread is taken seriously here in Scotland with many varieties to choose from. This is Edinburgh gingerbread recipe is rich and moist, packed with amazing flavours and a classic in its own right.

Aah gingerbread, Scotland is famed for her gingerbread and we have many types on offer.

This is not a recipe for the type of gingerbread one uses for gingerbread men and cookies, no this is good old fashioned cake type Edinburgh gingerbread.

Edinburgh was always the centre of high society in Scotland and led the field in fashion and innovation.

This was very evident in the famous tea rooms and drawing rooms of hostesses in the city who prided themselves on using the finest ingredients in their cakes and bakes.

This Edinburgh gingerbread is a traditional recipe and boasts cinnamon for added spice and the crunch of almonds as well as juicy sultanas in the mix.

This recipe if from my book Simply Scottish Cakes & Bakes and you really don’t want to know how many times I practiced all these recipes, my jeans gave up on me completely!

Ingredients for Edinburgh gingerbread

You are using the same ingredients for any cake style gingerbread recipe here, just with a couple of extra special additions.

It is a pretty easy recipe really, you just need plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and cinnamon, a pinch of salt, treacle, soft brown sugar, milk, eggs, sultanas and flaked almonds.

It is the almonds and sultanas that make Edinburgh gingerbread so special.

For our American readers treacle is like your molasses.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make Edinburgh gingerbread

This is a simple gingerbread recipe. You want to sift together your dry ingredients (apart from the sugar) first to make sure no extra nasties in there and to add a bit of lightness.

Then melt together the butter in a small pan along with the sweet stuff – the treacle and the sugar. Do this over a low heat then let it cool a little before stirring in the eggs and milk.

Now back to your mixing bowl and add a little of the liquid ingredients a little at a time and mix in thoroughly.

Spoon the gingerbread dough into a prepared loaf tin and bake for about an hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean

Let your gingerbread cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack.

Pro tip

To get the treacle to slide off the spoon easily put a little vegetable oil in the spoon first.

How long will this keep

Your Edinburgh gingerbread will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight tin. You can freeze it for up to 3 months if you wrap the gingerbread well in clingfilm then pop into a freezer-proof box.

Serving ideas

Serve your Edinburgh Gingerbread either as it is or slathered in butter or cream cheese.

Or serve this easy gingerbread with ice-cream or just on its own maybe with a wee dram on the side.

Looking for more easy Scottish baking ideas? Then check these out before you go;

Homemade Scottish oatcakes

Traditional Scottish treacle scones + video

Scottish soda bread

Almond Flory

Traditional Dundee cake

Scottish Black Bun (New Year cake)

Scotch pancakes (aka drop scones) +video

Traditional Scottish honey buns

Aberdeen crulla and whisky dipping sauce

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.