The only gingerbread recipe you need this Christmas (2024)

FAQs

What is the dark history of gingerbread? ›

​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.

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. The World's Best Gingerbread. Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name.

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.

The Gingerbread man is one of England's most frequently used Christmas decorations. Its creation is attributed to Queen Elizabeth !, who is thought to have served the gingerbread figurines to visiting dignitaries. Lebkuchen, the German gingerbread, is likely to be the oldest Christmas gingerbread cookie.

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.

Gingerbread was first brought to Europe in 992 CE by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis when he taught French Christians the art of gingerbread baking. Later, during the 13th century, gingerbread was brought to Sweden by German immigrants.

In Germany, when you think of Christmas, you think of Nuremberg Lebkuchen, the city's famous gingerbread. These sweet and spicy treats have been baked for more than 600 years and are loved by young and old alike.

In 2018, the highest levels of gingerbread per capita consumption was registered in the Netherlands (2,361 kg per 1000 persons), followed by Germany (886 kg per 1000 persons), Belgium (799 kg per 1000 persons) and Spain (748 kg per 1000 persons), while the world average per capita consumption of gingerbread was ...

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 are some fun facts about gingerbread? ›

Gingerbread houses are built all over the world around the Christmas period, but they originally came from Germany in the 16^th century. Traditionally the cookie houses were decorated with foil and gold leaf which became associated with Christmas tradition.

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.

Gingerbread cookies became a sign of the more elegant side of England because of the gold leaf that was used to decorate them. Gingerbread houses began in Germany during the 16^th century. These cookie houses were decorated with foil and gold leaf and quickly became a Christmas tradition in the country.

Place the cooled gingerbread in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to three days. It will last for up to one week in the refrigerator.

An early form of gingerbread can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians who used it for ceremonial purposes. Gingerbread made an appearance in Europe when 11th-century Crusaders brought back ginger from the Middle East for the aristocrats' cooks to experiment with.

Another rumor is that these iconic little humanoid cookies date all the way back to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Allegedly, she had them baked to resemble her likeness. There's also a story that desperate women ate the sugary-sweet men-like treats to try and boost their chances of attracting a suitor.

According to certain researchers, the first gingerbread houses were the result of the well-known Grimm's fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" in which the two children abandoned in the forest found an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations.

What's the Moral? 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.