Gingerbread Fudge Recipe - A New Christmas Classic (2024)

FAQs

When did gingerbread become a Christmas tradition? ›

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.

Elizabeth I of England surprised guests with “biscuits” that were designed in their likeness. Its association with the holiday season, which didn't come until later, is likely a practical one: Some people attribute the tradition to the weather, as ginger has a comforting way of warming the person who is eating it.

Legend traces gingerbread men back to Queen Elizabeth I, who supposedly had her cooks mold the pastry into the shapes of her favorite courtiers and liked to give VIP guests ginger "biscuits" that were edible caricatures.

Etymology. Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d'épices ( lit.

According to Epicure & Culture, gingerbread was sacred, and the only time it was allowed to be made by the general public was during Christmas and Easter. So, that's probably why it's seen as a Christmas delicacy. It's all in the timing. And once an association builds, it's just hard to shake.

The reason why gingerbread houses are synonymous with Christmas has to do with gingersnap cookies and how it was a highly popular tradition to bake a large assortment of ginger during the holidays. This was when gingerbread houses became a common practice with Christmas.

Gingerbread makes the perfect year round gift

They certainly make a lovely edible gift for family and friends as they can be decorated so individually and beautifully with icing, sweets and ribbons making them almost too good to eat.

Moral Of The Story

The gingerbread man was very confident that he could run fast and escape from everyone. However, he was proved wrong when the sly fox caught him. Secondly, “we should never trust anyone blindly”. The gingerbread man believed the fox offered him and was not at all tempted to eat him.

​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.

What is an interesting fact about gingerbread? ›

Originally gingerbread was made with honey and breadcrumbs

One of the earliest English recipes for gingerbread, written down in the fifteenth century, didn't actually contain any ginger! Instead bread crumbs or 'gratyd brede' were mixed with boiled honey and formed into a stiff paste with saffron and pepper.

An early European gingerbread recipe involved making a paste of stale breadcrumbs, ground almonds, rosewater, sugar, and ginger. English recipes of the 16^th century replaced the stale breadcrumbs with flour and added honey for a sweeter taste and lighter feel.

Some bakeries are now calling gingerbread men by the gender neutral term “gingerbread people.” Do you agree with the change? I couldn't care less if they called them “gingerbread cookies.”

According to Rhonda Massingham Hart's Making Gingerbread Houses, the first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC. Chinese recipes were developed during the 10th century and by the late Middle Ages, Europeans had their own version of gingerbread.

The habit of eating gingerbread cookies during Christmas soon became a staple as many saw them as unique gifts. Many also decorated their Christmas trees with gingerbread men or houses, leading to an increase in their popularity.

Long before it became a holiday treat, gingerbread was a royal favorite, a token of fertility, and a tool for witches to exact their vengeance. The pudgy gingerbread man with his candy eyes and icing smile has a sinister backstory—a link to death and the demonic.

Wondering what an old couple, a cookie, farm animals, and a clever fox have to do with the most wonderful time of the year? We don't blame you; there's really nothing Christmas-y about the classic fairytale. But, despite that, the gingerbread man is a holiday staple that's loved far and wide.