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This recipe for Welsh Gingerbread is an old one. I picked it up duringmy culinary tour of Wales, and as you can see from the picture, it comes from an old book. You know, the kind your grandmother has stashed on the shelf.There’s no reference to what year this book was made, but there is a little note at the top of the recipe that says it was the original gingerbread sold at old Welsh Fairs. In the spirit of the holiday season, I couldn’t wait to try it out!
Translating Measurements
Now, I confess, it took me a couple of tries. Here in the United States, we don’t measure things by the “gill,” and I had to do a bit of googling to discover ourequivalent of demerara sugar (it’s brown sugar) and black treacle (it’s molasses). We also don’t have an Oven Control, Mark 3. So this was a fun experiment. But the results were worth it.
Testing An Old Gingerbread Recipe
Thankfully, most of the measurements were by weight/ounces, so I only had one that was a bit tricky — a gill. According to Wikipedia, “Agill or teacup is a unit of measurement for volume equal to a quarter of a pint. It is no longer in common use, except in regard to the volume of alcoholic spirits measures.” I also found a few references that said it was equivalent to a half cup, or five fluid ounces. So, I started with that measurement, but it ended up being a bit too moist. Then I cut it down to a third, and it was still a bit moist. Finally, I cut both the milk ANDthe molasses down to 1/3 cup and that ended up being about right.
Now, something you’ll notice about the original Welsh gingerbread recipe pictured — there are no eggs. And no ginger, either! The recipe did mention candied peel, and I assumed that was ginger. I added a bit of ground ginger to the recipe to give it more a ginger flavor andmadea glaze sprinkled some candied ginger on top to make it more like a festive dessert. Enjoy!
Welsh Gingerbread With Orange Glaze & Candied Ginger
Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, and ground ginger to a large bowl and whisk together.
Next, add the butter and press into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until the butter is blended into the flour and it looks a little lumpy.
Add the brown sugar and to the flour mixture and stir together. Once it is well blended, add 1/4 cup of candied ginger and mix.
Heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave until it's warm, but not boiling. Pour the molasses into the milk and stir until the molasses is dissolved. Then pour the molasses milk into the flour and gently stir together until it's the consistency of a soft cookie dough.
Transfer dough into greased bread pan and bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (You may need a little longer depending on your oven)
While the gingerbread is baking, you can prepare the glaze.
Whisk the confectioners sugar with the orange juice until the sugar is completely dissolved and it is the consistency of a syrup.
Once the bread is done baking, let it cool for 1 hour. Drizzle with glaze and the rest of the candied ginger.
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About Rachelle Lucas
Rachelle is the founder of TheTravelBite.com and was named one of USA Today's 10Best Food and Travel Bloggers. She believes the best way to learn about a destination is through its flavors and collects recipes from her trips to recreate them here on The Travel Bite. In her spare time she enjoys running and yoga to balance out her food obsession.
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Comments
Gaylesays
Candied peel is orange peel that has been cooked with sugar in a saucepan, sort of like peanut brittle. You also buy it ready made in grocery stores. It’s really good in breads and muffins
Reply
Annsays
In our neck of the woods, mixed peel is a mixture of orange, lemon and sometimes grapefruit peel, candied and chopped finely. It remains moist, not brittle. Added to Christmas cakes is usual here amongst other baked good where dried fruit may be used. Hot cross buns aren’t the same without it!
Soft, moist and nutty German gingerbread was invented by medieval monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century. Lebkuchen bakers were recorded as early as 1296 in the city of Ulm and in 1395 in Nürnberg (Nuremberg).
A 1:4 ratio of butter to flour makes the gingerbread strong. Corn syrup keeps freshly baked gingerbread pliable and soft, so it's easy to cut while warm. Rolling the dough directly on parchment makes it easy to transfer to the pan.
Most likely too much bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) was added. Bicarbonate of soda is an extremely active raising agent and if you add too much then the gingerbread will rise up a lot during baking, then sink back fairly dramatically.
Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name. A unique, spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and cake, its reputation quickly spread and it is now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world.
Gingerbread is an architectural style that consists of elaborately detailed embellishment known as gingerbread trim. It is more specifically used to describe the detailed decorative work of American designers in the late 1860s and 1870s, which was associated mostly to the Carpenter Gothic style.
The making of these holiday cookies are a time-honored tradition in many families across the world. But, the one country that takes gingerbread making to a whole other level, especially for the holidays, is Germany.
Lebküchen, on the other hand, is darker, denser, and richer than gingerbread with its focus on honey, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cardamom, and ginger all amplified with a pinch of mace. If you like gingerbread but want to step up the flavor game, then Lebküchen is the way to go.
Pfeffernusse and lebkuchen are both similarly flavored with honey and lots of warm baking spices but pfeffernusse are almost always small, rounded cookies coated with a powdered sugar glaze, while lebkuchen may be shaped like regular cookies or cut in bars and are generally glazed with chocolate.
The simple answer is no; dogs should not be given gingerbread. In addition to the large amounts of sugar and fat, gingerbread often includes nutmeg, which can be toxic to dogs. For more information, we spoke to veterinarian Dr. Lindsay Butzer opens in a new tab for how to keep your dogs safe this holiday season.
Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they'll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet.
Research shows it may aid in digestion, reduce nausea and help fight the common cold and flu. It's also believed ginger may support weight management, help manage arthritis and may also alleviate menstrual symptoms. Molasses is another ingredient sometimes found in gingerbread.
Too much butter made for sticky dough, but delicious cookies. I had to use a spatula to lift these people-shaped cutouts from my flour-dusted countertop and onto a baking sheet. The dough was sticky, which resulted in slightly swollen cookies, but the finished product was nearly perfect.
Use royal icing to attach the pieces back together. Another trick is to use candy melts as the “glue”. It dries much faster than icing. Whichever option you choose, it is best to let the repair dry overnight.
Some historians also believe that gingerbread gained popularity during the Christmas season because the spices' warmth was perfect for the wintertime, much like the candles in windows that helped illuminate dark winter nights.
Both are spiced cookies. The main differences are that gingersnaps are typically rolled into balls, while gingerbread is rolled out and cut into shapes. Gingersnaps are also baked slightly longer, which is where they get their snappy crispiness. Gingerbread is typically a little chewier.
Should gingerbread cookies be hard or soft? Soft gingerbread biscuits are ideal. They ought to be flexible. However, they should still be somewhat elastic, and if you hold them too firmly because you're so excited to eat them, you might even be able to leave your fingerprints on the cookie!
Gingersnaps typically have a crisp, snappy texture and a spicier, more pronounced ginger flavor, while molasses cookies are soft with a deeper, rich molasses flavor. Can this dough be frozen? Definitely! Just follow the instructions for sugar coated cookies in my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
'spice bread') or the German and Polish terms Pfefferkuchen and Piernik respectively ( lit. 'pepper cake' because it used to contain pepper) or Lebkuchen (of unclear etymology; either Latin libum, meaning "sacrifice" or "sacrificial bread," or German Laib for loaf or German for life, leben).
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Gayle says
