The only gingerbread recipe you need this Christmas (2024)

FAQs

What are the three types of gingerbread? ›

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel. A new holiday tradition was born.

Today, the ultimate Christmas gingerbread incarnation is of course the gingerbread house. It has been suggested that these edible structures originated in Germany between the 16th and 18th centuries. The trend for gingerbread houses must have spread to Britain at some point during the nineteenth century.

​Superstitions about gingerbread flourished in the 17th century. Witches supposedly made gingerbread figures, ate them, and thereby caused the death of their enemies. Dutch magistrates went so far as to declare baking or eating molded cookies illegal.

Some gingerbread recipes require some time to soften after baking because they are initially firm. Gingerbread is made harder by molasses and honey, but it becomes softer when water is absorbed by the sugar.

Yes, of course gingerbread in all its forms from cookies to cake smells different from ginger. Ginger is only one of the spices traditionally used in gingerbread. Yes, cinnamon plays a role in that distinct aroma. As do the addition of nutmeg or allspice and cloves, all very distinct by themselves.

Food historians trace the origins of gingerbread back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it for ceremonial purposes. The ancient Greeks followed suit with the first known recipe for gingerbread around 2400 B.C.

Lebkuchen is traditional German gingerbread made with honey and a variety of spices (including ginger). The Bavarian city of Nuremberg has produced Lebkuchen for centuries, and in 1996 the city was made a protected designation of origin (PDO), meaning that Nuremberg Lebkuchen can only be produced within its borders.

Nuremberg was recognized as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" when in the 1600s the guild started to employ master bakers and skilled workers to create complicated works of art from gingerbread. Medieval bakers used carved boards to create elaborate designs.

What is the religion of gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread was an important part of pagan religious ceremonies which took place in the month of December. Before this time, since the Christian Church had never set a date for the birth of Christ, the decision was made to set it at December 25th so pagan and Christmas celebrations could take place at the same time.

Gingerbread has no ties to Christianity, its history goes back to Saturnalia and the pagan holiday of YULE. Ginger symbolizes passion, cinnamon — love and prosperity, and nutmeg — warmth. 🎄 #yule #saturnalia #gingerbread #quickhistory #christmas #pagantok #witchythings.

A fear that gingerbread men could be the agents of the devil also spread throughout Europe. In 1607, the superstitious magistrates of Delft in the Netherlands made it illegal to either bake or eat any of these molded and spiced cookies. This was also a time of religious upheaval.

Etymology. Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger.

The gingerbread man story's moral is slightly dark for a fable meant for children: Be careful who you trust. The cookie believed the fox when he said he wasn't tempted to eat him—this misguided trust led to the protagonist's downfall.

In Medieval England gingerbread meant preserved ginger. The hard cookies were a staple at Medieval fairs in England and on the continent. These became known as “gingerbread fairs” and the cookies called “fairings”.

1875 story

In the 1875 St. Nicholas tale, a childless old woman bakes a gingerbread man, who leaps from her oven and runs away. The woman and her husband give chase, but are unable to catch him. The gingerbread man then outruns several farm workers, farm men, and farm animals.

The American version first appeared in the May 1875 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine. The story tells of a Gingerbread Man who runs away from the old woman who baked him.

Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d'épices ( lit. 'spice bread') or the German and Polish terms Pfefferkuchen and Piernik respectively ( lit.