Whenever gingerbread is mentioned, it’s hard not to think of ornately decorated houses reminiscent of the one into which Hansel and Gretel were enticed in the fairy tale. But it’s not just biscuits and decorated men that sport the term ‘gingerbread’.
Spiced fruitcake, yeasted sweet loaves, tea breads, chunky cookies and moist sticky cake can all accurately be classed as gingerbread too, and have been across Europe for many centuries.
Gingerbread dates to the time of ancient Greeks and Egyptians, when the term referred to ‘preserved’ ginger. However, later in culinary history, it came to refer to a confection made using honey and spices. Nowadays, gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d’épices (meaning ‘spice bread’) or the German terms ‘lebkuchen’ or ‘pfefferkuchen’ (the latter meaning pepper cake). The term lebkuchen is less specific as in German it can refer to either ‘leben’ (life) or ‘laib’ (loaf), but whichever translation you go with, these beautifully decorated biscuits are simply delicious.
Gingerbread can be cut into many shapes and sizes
During its earliest days, gingerbread was more for decoration than eating, and was made extremely firm so that it could be used principally for ceremonial and religious purposes. Eventually an Armenian monk brought it to Western Europe in 992 when he left Nicopolis Pompeii to live in Bondaroy, France, where he ended up teaching French Christians how to bake gingerbread. By this stage the process had become quite sophisticated, with moulds used to create images of saints and religious icons.
Its principal uses continued to be for religious occasions, and all aspects of gingerbread creation were regarded as a sacred and prestigious practice in Europe, with only specially trained
Gingerbread Guild members are permitted to make it, except during Christmas and Easter.
Thankfully we are now free to make and enjoy it at any time of year, but it feels especially appropriate during the festive season.
Happy baking!
Basic Gingerbread Recipes
The two basic recipes below are suitable for making all sorts of shapes and creations. Always chill the dough for 30 minutes before starting any gingerbread projects. Whether you are making a scale replica of the Taj Mahal or fun biscuits, chilling the dough ensures the very best results and makes the dough easier to work with.
When making gingerbread shapes, bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 12 minutes, or until they turn golden and start to colour slightly around the edges.
Golden Gingerbread
I use this particular golden gingerbread recipe for my little gingerbread men. Whilst these are now largely thought of as the delight of children, gingerbread men were first attributed to Queen Elizabeth I, who apparently served the figurines to foreign dignitaries.
INGREDIENTS
175g plain flour
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
1 tsp ground ginger
75g caster sugar
75g unslated butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg yolk
METHOD
1 Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices in a bowl and rub in the butter until it
resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2 Add in the golden syrup and egg yolk and mix it all together until it forms a firm dough. Wrap the
dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
DARK GINGERBREAD
INGREDIENTS
175g plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
25g cocoa powder
75g unsalted butter
85g light muscovado sugar
1 egg
METHOD
1 Sift together the flour, spices, salt and bicarbonate of soda and rub in the butter until the mixture
resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2 Add the sugar and egg, mix to form a firm dough and knead gently on a lightly dusted board before
wrapping in cling film and chilling for 30 minutes.
Gingerbread has no rules when it comes to decoration so let your imagination go wild
Gingerbread Stained Glass Windows
In the thirteenth century, it was the custom to bake gingerbread biscuits and paint them as window decorations. My version of these stained glass windows is very easy to make, but looks impressive,
especially if hung where the light catches them.
INGREDIENTS
Dark gingerbread mixture
20 boiled sweets
Fine ribbon
METHOD
1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2 Cut out a window template (as pictured) and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking
parchment.
3 Divide the chilled dough into two and roll out each half thinly on a floured surface.
4 Cut out window shapes using the templates and transfer them carefully to the baking tray.
5 Using a metal skewer, poke a hole in the top of each biscuit and bake for 5 minutes.
6 Lightly crush the boiled sweets by bashing them gently with a rolling pin whilst still in their wrappers.
7 Remove the part-baked biscuits from the oven and place a few shards of boiled sweet in each
window.
8 Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until the sweets have melted to create a stained glass
effect.
9 Re-open the skewer hole and leave to cool before threading with ribbon for hanging.
TOP TIP: These stained glass windows can be made a few days in advance if stored in a dry, airtight container, but once hung they will become soft within a day or so.
Gingerbread cottages will brighten up any holiday table
Gingerbread Cottage
I use a slightly different gingerbread recipe for making this cottage as it gives a firmer biscuit that is better for the construction. Your gingerbread house will be of optimum eating quality for about a week, but it will actually last a lot longer as an attractive decorative showpiece.
INGREDIENTS
250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
600g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger
(For Decorating)
1 quantity of Royal Icing for decorating
1 quantity of Royal Icing for bonding the walls
A generous selection of sweets of your choice
Chocolate buttons (white and milk)
A dipped chocolate flake
METHOD
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2 Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a heavy pan.
3 Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger in a large bowl, then stir in the melted butter
mixture to form a stiff dough. Chill the dough for 30 minutes, as above.
4 Cut out the template (see the picture).
5 On a floured work surface, roll out half of the dough to the thickness of two £1 coins.
6 Cut out one of the sections then slide the gingerbread carefully onto a prepared baking sheet and
repeat with the remaining dough.
7 Re-roll the trimmings until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.
8 Bake all the sections for 12 minutes or until firm and just a little coloured at the edges, leave to cool
for a few minutes until firm then trim around the templates again to create clean, sharp edges. Once
trimmed, leave to cool completely.
9 Fill a piping bag with royal icing, pipe generous seams of icing onto the edges and construct the
cottage walls, using a small bowl to support the walls from the inside then allow to set for a few hours.
10 Once dry, remove the bowl and attach the roof panels then allow the cottage to set completely,
ideally overnight.
Use your imagination (and anything else) to decorate gingerbread biscuits and cottages
How to Decorate Your Gingerbread Cottage
Decorating the house is really the fun bit, and is limited only by your imagination.
* Using more icing, stick some sweets around the door and on the front of the house, and pipe the
windows.
* Pipe a wavy line of icing along the bottom edge of the roof and attach a row of white chocolate buttons. Pipe a line of icing above the white buttons and stick on a row of milk chocolate buttons,
repeating the layering process until the entire roof is covered.
* To create icicles, start with the piping nozzle at a 90-degree angle to the roof, squeeze out a pea-
sized blob of icing then, keeping the pressure on, pull the nozzle down then off – the icing will pullaway, leaving a pointy icicle trail.
* Cut the dipped flake at an angle then fix with icing to create a chimney. Finish off by piping a little icing around the top.
* Dust the roof with icing sugar for a snowy effect, and above all, have fun doing the decorating.Gingerbread is not only wonderful to look at, it is also deliciously tasty and fun to work with, so get
creative with this versatile foodstuff, and if all else fails, just make some ginger biscuits for dunking in your tea.
