We have reached the end of the year, a month full of big celebrations. Today we are focusing on Christmas, because we want to introduce you to gingerbread cookies, one of the most popular bakes of the Christmas season.
Gingerbread in cookie form can be thin and crisp (also known in English as a ginger snap) or softer, similar to German Lebkuchen. Gingerbread cookies are often cut into all sorts of shapes, most famously the gingerbread house and the gingerbread man.
Gingerbread Houses and the Rise of Baking Powder
The dough is used to build gingerbread houses, like the witch's house in Western fairy tales, usually decorated with assorted sweets and icing sugar. They are a common sight at Christmas. The invention of baking powder in the late 19th century played a part in the evolution of gingerbread: it made the dough base rise, which led to many baked goods whose flavor and chewiness are both similar to and different from the original gingerbread, such as various kinds of honey gingerbread and spiced gingerbread.
Ancient Honey Cakes
In German, the name also points to another key ingredient of gingerbread: honey. Some of the earliest written records of spiced honey cakes date back to around 350 BC, for example:
- The ancient Egyptians made baked goods sweetened with honey, which were used in funeral rites.
- The Romans had a cake called panis mellitus, which was brushed with honey and then baked.
How Modern Gingerbread Began
Gingerbread as we know it today originated in Dinant, Belgium. It was then adopted and adapted by the people of Aachen, and finally taken up by clergy in France, who modified it slightly. Nuns baked gingerbread to hand out to villagers in times of famine and hardship, because gingerbread does not spoil easily and keeps for a long time.
The Gingerbread Man at Christmas
Today people all over the world still bake gingerbread cookies especially to celebrate Christmas, and the most popular shape is the gingerbread man. Historical records show that it was first made in the time of Queen Elizabeth I of England, to be presented to royal guests and important visitors. Hearts, snowflakes and pine trees are also popular shapes to welcome Christmas. This is how the gingerbread man became a fixture of every Christmas.
So there you have it: gingerbread cookies, from the gingerbread house to the gingerbread man, the stars of Christmas. We wish you all a very happy Christmas!
