Historians say the first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 B.C.
The sweet, syrupy, spiced confection we now turn into frosted houses and soft holiday loaves has roots dating back thousands of years.
Historians say an Armenian monk first brought gingerbread to Europe from Greece in the 10th century. The first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 B.C.
The flowering plant that gives the cookies and houses their signature spicy snap was first cultivated in ancient China. The ginger root was used in medical treatments and eventually arrived in Europe through the spice trade along the Silk Road.
Gingerbread didn’t become a sweet dessert until the 15th century. In the Middle Ages, gingerbread meant “preserved ginger” and was often used as a spice to disguise the taste of preserved meats.
King Henry VIII of England is said to have used a ginger concoction – most likely a ginger wine – to fend off the plague.
Now, the term gingerbread is used to describe any type of sweet that combines ginger with honey, treacle or molasses.
Hard gingerbread cookies shaped like animals, flowers and kings and queens popped up as a staple at medieval fairs. Ladies often gave their favorite knights a piece of gingerbread for good luck and several cities in England and France often held “gingerbread fairs.”
Henry VIII’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, is credited with the idea for decorating gingerbread cookies. By 1598, gingerbread was popular enough to get a mention in William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost ("An I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy ginger-bread...").
The Germans are credited with crafting sweet, miniature houses with the snappy spiced cookies in the 16th century. The popularity of the craft confections rose when the Brothers Grimm wrote and published the story of "Hansel and Gretel." Later, gingerbread became associated with the Christmas and winter season.
In North America, gingerbread arrived with English colonists. Americans have been baking the spiced cake and cookies since before the Revolutionary era.
George Washington’s mother gets credit for one American recipe with shapes ranging from miniature kings to eagles.
Mary Ball Washington even served her gingerbread recipe to the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited her Virginia home. George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate shows a recipe for this Lafayette Gingerbread on its website.
Before the turn of the 19th century, the first American cookbook – American Cookery – had recipes for three different types of gingerbread.
Now, gingerbread cookies, cakes and houses are a staple of the holiday season. Children decorate crunchy gingerbread men with white frosting and gumdrop buttons. Competitions are held for the world's largest, most elaborate gingerbread houses. And restaurants and retailers – including coffee giant Starbucks – debut annual their sweet takes on gingerbread cakes and cookies.
Five years ago, Texas A&M Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, nabbed the record for the world's largest gingerbread house. The house used nearly a ton of butter, 7,200 eggs and 68 pounds of ginger. It came in at 35.8 million calories.
FAQs
Gingerbread houses are built all over the world around the Christmas period, but they originally came from Germany in the 16th century. Traditionally the cookie houses were decorated with foil and gold leaf which became associated with Christmas tradition.
How did gingerbread get to Europe? ›
Gingerbread was brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis (Gregory Makar) (Grégoire de Nicopolis). He left Nicopolis Pompeii, to live in Bondaroy (France), near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there seven years and taught gingerbread baking to French Christians.
What historical events or cultural influences have shaped the tradition of gingerbread house making? ›
Gingerbread Houses
Although Queen Elizabeth I gets credit for the early decorating of gingerbread cookies, once again, it's the Germans who lay claim to starting the gingerbread house tradition. And when the German Brothers Grimm wrote “Hansel and Gretel” a new holiday tradition was born.
Where did the gingerbread story come from? ›
"The Gingerbread Man" (sometimes, "The Gingerbread Boy") is an American fairy tale. It is a variant of the European runaway pancake story. The American version first appeared in the May 1875 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine.
Why do we eat gingerbread for Christmas? ›
Gingerbread was brought to Europe in 992 by an Armenian monk. Through the 17th century, gingerbread was used for religious ceremonies. 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.
Why is gingerbread man related to Christmas? ›
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.
How did ginger get to Europe? ›
For well over two thousand years, ginger had come to Europe along trade routes from Asia. But by 1707, Sloane wrote that the majority of ginger shipped to Europe originated in the West Indies: Ginger is very common in all the parts of the West and East-Indies.
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.
What was gingerbread inspired by? ›
The tradition of decorated gingerbread houses began in Germany in the early 1800s, supposedly popularised after the not-so-Christmassy fairytale of Hansel and Gretel was published in 1812.
What is the history of gingerbread cake? ›
Gingerbread came to the Americas with settlers from Europe. Molasses, less expensive than sugar, soon became a common ingredient and produced a softer cake. The first printed American cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, contained seven different recipes for gingerbread.
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 the history of gingerbread in the Middle Ages? ›
Gingerbread's history dates back to medieval times, when it was thought to be medicinal cure for “coughs and infirmities of the lungs.” Medieval gingerbread would hardly be recognizable to us today as its main sweetener was honey rather than molasses. Gingerbread was popular in the colonial era, too.
What happened once gingerbread became popular in Europe? ›
As the treat became more popular throughout Europe, gingerbread shaping became an art form. People would carve a picture into a piece of wood and press dough into the mold, and their cookies would come out of the oven looking like the picture.
Why is it called the gingerbread girl? ›
The title is an allusion to the fairy tale "The Gingerbread Boy" (also known as "The Gingerbread Man").
Who inspired the first gingerbread house? ›
According to certain researchers, the first gingerbread houses were the result of the well-known Grimm's fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" in which the two children abandoned in the forest found an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations.
Why do we make gingerbread cookies at Christmas? ›
During the winter months, colonials enjoyed ginger snap cookies dipped in wine. A comforting way to stay warm, their popularity in the colder months led to ginger cookies becoming common Christmas tree decorations.
Is gingerbread a German Christmas tradition? ›
Today, the ultimate Christmas gingerbread incarnation is of course the gingerbread house. It has been suggested that these edible structures originated in Germany between the 16th and 18th centuries. The trend for gingerbread houses must have spread to Britain at some point during the nineteenth century.
What are some interesting facts 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.
