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Gingerbread is a popular sweet that often finds its way onto holiday dessert tables. Some people bake and construct lavish gingerbread houses, while others make cut-outs of gingerbread people to turn into cookies.
Legend suggests that gingerbread originally landed in Europe in 992 with an Armenian monk named Gregory of Nicopolis, who brought a honey-and-spice cake to other monks in France, where it quickly became a favorite and was considered a "food from heaven." Historians are not really sure if the original gingerbread had any ginger in it at all. In fact, typical medieval recipes for gingerbread include no ginger and the French would later refer to it as "pain d'epices," or spiced bread.
Gingerbread once was a treat only for the elite, but as the masses discovered it, recipes evolved to include soft cakes to hard biscuits and everything in between. The following recipe for medieval "Gingerbread" produces a chewy, almost candy-like texture with potent ginger flavor. Try it for holiday gatherings, courtesy of "Tasting History" (Simon Element) by Max Miller.
Gingerbread
Makes 20 to 25 1-inch pieces
12 to 14 slices (238 g) stale white bread
1 cup (330 g) honey
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3⁄4 teaspoon ground long pepper (a spice similar to black pepper but with more heat that typically must be ordered online)
1⁄2 teaspoon sandalwood powder, if desired, for color (one drop of red food dye can be used instead)
1⁄2 cup (50 g) or less sugar (enough for sprinkling)
20 to 25 whole cloves
Gold leaf
Either with a food processor or by hand, grind the bread into coarse bread crumbs. Commercially bought bread crumbs will work as well, though the texture from homemade bread crumbs is preferable.
Pour the honey into a large saucepan set over medium heat, and heat to a rolling boil; the honey will become like syrup. Note that it will boil up quite a bit, so do not use a small saucepan. Slowly add the bread crumbs to the honey while stirring. The mixture should come together and begin to pull away from the sides of the saucepan. Continue to mix until fully combined. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the ginger, long pepper and sandalwood, if desired. Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of parchment and spread with a spatula. Then, place another sheet of parchment and, with a rolling pin, roll the gingerbread out to about 1⁄2-inch thick (1.2 cm). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until stiff, about 2 hours.
Once the gingerbread is cool, sprinkle sugar on top and cut into 1-inch squares or whatever shape you like. Keep in mind that each piece should be bite size, as they are very strong. They will also be quite sticky, so handle them as little as possible. Insert a whole clove into each piece of gingerbread and fleck with gold leaf. Leave the clove in until serving, then remove it just before eating.