About gingerbread
Dec. 30th, 2005 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
featherynscaleBecause ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
adammaker asked for one:
History:
Gingerbread first entered the European kitchen following the Crusades, when various exotic spices and dried fruits were brought in quantity from the Middle East to Europe by assorted returning knights and hangers-on. These were added to honey cakes, an existing culinary delight to produce a bread that was both tastier and easier to store, gingerbread. The first gingerbread was a boiled dough made with honey, spices, and bread crumbs which was molded into various shapes. The gingerbread was often served in monasteries on saints' days, and at other religious festivals, so many of these shapes were representative of the various saints and powers in the Catholic faith. Eventually, this practice spread to the world outside the church doors, and molds in the shape of animals, castles, suns and moons, people, and other designs became popular.
Even as more people had access to gingerbread, it was still mostly a festival and holiday treat, partially due to its association with the church's feast days, and partially due to the expense involved in acquiring the ingredients. In England, gingerbread became associated with trading and festival fairs, where gingerbread molded to look like men was sold. Folk tradition associated the eating of one of these gingerbread men to the gaining of a husband, so gingerbread became quite popular with young English ladies. Another story relates the gingerbread man to Queen Elizabeth I, who reportedly favored important visitors to her court with gingerbread people made to look like the VIPs.
In Germany, gingerbread evolved along a slightly different line as monks found that the wet dough could be piled on to host wafers for baking, which kept it from sticking. Bakers in the city of Nuremburg, which boasted a bee-keepers, honey, and waxmaking guild, took advantage of relatively easy access to honey and grew an entire guild of master gingerbread bakers by the middle of the 17th century. The status of master was highly coveted and also inheritable, so the daughters of master bakers were exceedingly marriagable.
The custom of the gingerbread house may have stemmed from the Hansel and Gretel story by the Brothers Grimm, which featured a witch who lived in a house in the forest made of bread, decorated with candies, which she used to lure children in. If one had to build with bread, gingerbread would not be a bad choice, since in its boiled form, it has an extremely long shelf-life, and is fairly sturdy stuff, able to be shaped into a variety of forms. The first gingerbread houses are recorded in the early 19th century in Germany.
References:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/christmasfood.html#gingerbread
http://www.journalofantiques.com/hearthdec.htm
http://ww2.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/htm/englisch/prod_info_lhis.html
http://www.lebkuchen.nuernberg.de/englische_version/index.html
Gingerbread
1 lb. Honey - I prefer organic, or something made with a flavored flower blossom, etc., but feel free to use your favorite. Just remember that the final product is affected by the flavor of the honey you choose.
Bread Crumbs - up to a pound, maybe more, maybe less. These must be UNSEASONED bread crumbs, though either white or wheat, or a combination, is fine. Be sure that they are finely ground and not soft in any way.
ginger (optional!) - up to 1 Tbs.
cinnamon - up to 1 Tbs.
ground white pepper - up to ½ tsp.
pinch saffron, if desired, but not important here
few drops red food coloring (optional)
Bring the honey to a boil and skim off any scum. Keeping the pan over very low heat, add the spices, adjusting the quantities to suit your taste. Add the food coloring "if you will have it red." Then begin to slowly beat in the bread crumbs. Add just enough bread to achieve a thick, stiff, well-blended mass. Remove from the heat and turn the mixture into a container or bowl to cool. When cool, take a rolling pin & spread the gingerbread evenly out into a square shape, ½ to 1 inch thick. Trim the edges with a knife, then cut into small slices to serve. Decorate with small leaves (real or candy) attached to each piece with a clove.
Courtesy of Gode Cookery.
GINGERBREAD, FOR HOUSES OR MOLDED COOKIES
1¼ cup butter at room temperature
1¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons. vanilla
1 teaspoon. lemon
4 cups sifted flour
1¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
3 teaspoons nutmeg
Combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon extract. Cream well until smooth.
Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture and stir until smooth, adding more flour if necessary to form a dough that is almost firm and very slightly sticky.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill until cold and thickened.
Roll and cut to shape. Use dough scraps to form and press on decorative details. Bake at 350 degrees until brown underneath and slightly pale on top.
Note: Three times this recipe makes enough for 21 large gingerbread men (3/8" thick) with enough dough left over for decorations. If you are making a gingerbread house, roll a little thicker for strength. Extra dough freezes very well.
Courtesy of A Journal of Antiques & Collectibles, which also has several other historical gingerbread recipes on its site.
And,adammaker, I think it's funny because she has an oven *inside* the bread house. It's kind of like the cows in the spaceship thing. But there may be other reasons. :)
adammaker asked for one:History:
Gingerbread first entered the European kitchen following the Crusades, when various exotic spices and dried fruits were brought in quantity from the Middle East to Europe by assorted returning knights and hangers-on. These were added to honey cakes, an existing culinary delight to produce a bread that was both tastier and easier to store, gingerbread. The first gingerbread was a boiled dough made with honey, spices, and bread crumbs which was molded into various shapes. The gingerbread was often served in monasteries on saints' days, and at other religious festivals, so many of these shapes were representative of the various saints and powers in the Catholic faith. Eventually, this practice spread to the world outside the church doors, and molds in the shape of animals, castles, suns and moons, people, and other designs became popular.
Even as more people had access to gingerbread, it was still mostly a festival and holiday treat, partially due to its association with the church's feast days, and partially due to the expense involved in acquiring the ingredients. In England, gingerbread became associated with trading and festival fairs, where gingerbread molded to look like men was sold. Folk tradition associated the eating of one of these gingerbread men to the gaining of a husband, so gingerbread became quite popular with young English ladies. Another story relates the gingerbread man to Queen Elizabeth I, who reportedly favored important visitors to her court with gingerbread people made to look like the VIPs.
In Germany, gingerbread evolved along a slightly different line as monks found that the wet dough could be piled on to host wafers for baking, which kept it from sticking. Bakers in the city of Nuremburg, which boasted a bee-keepers, honey, and waxmaking guild, took advantage of relatively easy access to honey and grew an entire guild of master gingerbread bakers by the middle of the 17th century. The status of master was highly coveted and also inheritable, so the daughters of master bakers were exceedingly marriagable.
The custom of the gingerbread house may have stemmed from the Hansel and Gretel story by the Brothers Grimm, which featured a witch who lived in a house in the forest made of bread, decorated with candies, which she used to lure children in. If one had to build with bread, gingerbread would not be a bad choice, since in its boiled form, it has an extremely long shelf-life, and is fairly sturdy stuff, able to be shaped into a variety of forms. The first gingerbread houses are recorded in the early 19th century in Germany.
References:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/christmasfood.html#gingerbread
http://www.journalofantiques.com/hearthdec.htm
http://ww2.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/htm/englisch/prod_info_lhis.html
http://www.lebkuchen.nuernberg.de/englische_version/index.html
Gingerbread
1 lb. Honey - I prefer organic, or something made with a flavored flower blossom, etc., but feel free to use your favorite. Just remember that the final product is affected by the flavor of the honey you choose.
Bread Crumbs - up to a pound, maybe more, maybe less. These must be UNSEASONED bread crumbs, though either white or wheat, or a combination, is fine. Be sure that they are finely ground and not soft in any way.
ginger (optional!) - up to 1 Tbs.
cinnamon - up to 1 Tbs.
ground white pepper - up to ½ tsp.
pinch saffron, if desired, but not important here
few drops red food coloring (optional)
Bring the honey to a boil and skim off any scum. Keeping the pan over very low heat, add the spices, adjusting the quantities to suit your taste. Add the food coloring "if you will have it red." Then begin to slowly beat in the bread crumbs. Add just enough bread to achieve a thick, stiff, well-blended mass. Remove from the heat and turn the mixture into a container or bowl to cool. When cool, take a rolling pin & spread the gingerbread evenly out into a square shape, ½ to 1 inch thick. Trim the edges with a knife, then cut into small slices to serve. Decorate with small leaves (real or candy) attached to each piece with a clove.
Courtesy of Gode Cookery.
GINGERBREAD, FOR HOUSES OR MOLDED COOKIES
1¼ cup butter at room temperature
1¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons. vanilla
1 teaspoon. lemon
4 cups sifted flour
1¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
3 teaspoons nutmeg
Combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon extract. Cream well until smooth.
Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture and stir until smooth, adding more flour if necessary to form a dough that is almost firm and very slightly sticky.
Wrap dough in plastic and chill until cold and thickened.
Roll and cut to shape. Use dough scraps to form and press on decorative details. Bake at 350 degrees until brown underneath and slightly pale on top.
Note: Three times this recipe makes enough for 21 large gingerbread men (3/8" thick) with enough dough left over for decorations. If you are making a gingerbread house, roll a little thicker for strength. Extra dough freezes very well.
Courtesy of A Journal of Antiques & Collectibles, which also has several other historical gingerbread recipes on its site.
And,
adammaker, I think it's funny because she has an oven *inside* the bread house. It's kind of like the cows in the spaceship thing. But there may be other reasons. :)
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-30 11:42 pm (UTC)Optional?
Date: 2006-01-01 04:03 pm (UTC)Re: Optional?
Date: 2006-01-01 05:37 pm (UTC)It looks like there was a transitional period between a sort of honey-cake with no spices and for real actual gingerbread, where spices and fruits started to come in, and that recipe is from a later portion of that transitional period.
I don't know, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either.
Re: Optional?
Date: 2006-01-05 12:17 am (UTC)