Christmas Fun Facts: The Story of the Gingerbread Men

01-12-2021

Gingerbread has been around for a long time, but the recipes used to make it have changed considerably over the years. Initially, gingerbread was made with breadcrumbs, ginger, and a sweetener, such as honey. People discovered that ginger has preservative properties and used it accordingly.

The gingerbread recipe changed, and by the 15th century (1400s), breadcrumbs had been replaced by flour. Honey was replaced by molasses. The cookie became lighter. Some recipes were sweet and thin gingerbread croquettes and others were thicker and cookie-like.

The pictoral scenes that told stories were carved out of wood and the gingerbread was rolled and pressed into them.

It first became figures (like people) in the 16th century (the 16th century). Queen Elizabeth I of England is credited with the first gingerbread men.

Queen Elizabeth was Queen of England from November 1558. (She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn). Queen Elizabeth was known for having well-dressed runners at her court. He has been credited with the first gingerbread men. The story goes that he had gingerbread cookies made and decorated to look like his favorite racers, and they were presented to him.

Gingerbread men tend to have vague shapes. For example, the legs do not have defined feet and they certainly do not have toes. The arms don’t have defined arms and they definitely don’t have fingers. Gingerbread women are equally simple in design. Gingerbread expands when baked, even in egg-free recipes. As a consequence, cookies work best when they are not too detailed.

Detail work comes into play when you decorate these cookies.

So gingerbread men and women needed houses, chairs, tables, beds, cars, trees, and cattle that are also made from gingerbread, and the bakers created them.

The Brothers Grimm wrote Hansel and Gretel in 1812. The story told of a witch who wanted to eat the children, Hansel and Gretel. He fattened them on candy and other sweets, and the children chewed on a house made of gingerbread. Gingerbread houses became popular at that time, especially in Germany.

Gingerbread houses are popular in the United States and many parts of Europe, but strangely not in England. These houses are most common during the Christmas season, but they also work well for any other holiday. Valentine’s houses are decorated with pink, red and white candy. Halloween houses have ghosts crawling out of them and are often purposely built “incorrectly.” The only limits with gingerbread houses are your imagination and the size of your cookie sheets. (I like to design one or two each year from index cards. Remember that gingerbread is thicker than paper, but place the cards in whatever type of house you can design.)

My favorite recipe for gingerbread houses is called “the alternative recipe.” I replace shortening with butter and use corn syrup instead of molasses.