The 150 Year Old Cookbook: Uncovering the History and Mystery Behind Gingerbread Houses

As I sat in front of my computer, watching the video transcript of an old cookbook, I couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity and intrigue. The book, which dated back to over 150 years ago, featured a beautiful illustration of a gingerbread house. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that this was not a traditional gingerbread house made with molasses and spices. Instead, the book claimed that it was made with gum paste - a type of fondant that is hard and difficult to eat.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt to recreate the design using gingerbread, while also exploring the history behind these sweet treats. I began by making a batch of my favorite gingerbread dough, which includes plenty of spices and a hint of warmth. But as I delved deeper into the world of gingerbread, I discovered that this traditional recipe was not as straightforward as it seemed.

According to the transcript, the earliest known recipe for gingerbread dates back to 1450. However, this ancient recipe is quite different from the one I'm familiar with. It's made from honey, grated bread, saffron, pepper, cloves, and sandalwood - none of which are typically found in modern gingerbread recipes. I was fascinated by this discovery and decided to learn more about the history of gingerbread.

The city of Nuremberg, Germany is often credited as the self-proclaimed capital of gingerbread in the 15th century. The monks there even established a guild to regulate gingerbread production, with strict rules governing what could be made and when. But despite their best efforts, the monks' original recipe was quite different from the traditional gingerbread we know today. According to the transcript, this early recipe consisted of a mixture of honey, ground nuts, citrus peels, spices, and very little flour at all. This meant that the batter had to be baked on rice paper wafers, rather than in a traditional oven.

As I continued my research, I began to wonder why gingerbread houses were traditionally made for Christmas. Was it a nod to the monks' guild rules, or was there something more to this tradition? The transcript revealed that Queen Elizabeth I had gingerbread men baked in her likeness as gifts during the 16th century. But what about the gingerbread house itself - did it have anything to do with baby Jesus or the real meaning of Christmas?

After delving deeper into the history of gingerbread, I discovered that there was no mention of Ginger or gingerbread houses in the Bible. It seems that this tradition has nothing to do with the origins of Christmas, but rather is a sweet treat that has been passed down through the ages.

As I sat at my kitchen table, surrounded by flour, sugar, and spices, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to explore this fascinating world of gingerbread. With the help of some cardboard templates and a batch of freshly baked dough, I set out to create my own gingerbread house - with rounded edges and all! If you're interested in trying your hand at making one, be sure to check out the link to my website for more details on my recipe.

Cutting Out the Gingerbread Pieces

One of the most challenging parts of creating a gingerbread house is cutting out the individual pieces. According to the transcript, it's essential to leave a border of gingerbread in place while baking, but if you want rounded edges, you can remove the border straight away. Apparently, this technique helps prevent the pieces from breaking or cracking.

As I began to cut out my gingerbread pieces, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. Would these little treats turn out as expected? Only time would tell! With each snip of the knife and each delicate touch, I felt like an artist bringing a creation to life.

Historical Gingerbread Houses

As I sat at my kitchen table, admiring my handiwork, I couldn't help but wonder about the historical gingerbread houses that came before me. According to the transcript, there was no template or pattern for these ancient houses - each part had to be planned out on cardboard and then cut out from fondant.

I felt a sense of awe as I realized that my own gingerbread house was not an original creation, but rather a modern interpretation of an ancient tradition. But what about the Queen Elizabeth I-era gingerbread men? Were they baked in the likeness of her guests, or was there something more to these sweet treats?

Shakespeare's Gingerbread Connection

As I pondered the history of gingerbread, I stumbled upon an interesting fact - that Shakespeare wrote a comedy that was performed for Queen Elizabeth I around the same time she had gingerbread men baked in her likeness. According to the transcript, one of the characters in this play said: "A gingerbread house would be a great idea!" While we can't know for certain if Shakespeare himself ever made a gingerbread house, it's clear that these sweet treats have been an integral part of British culture for centuries.

Conclusion

As I finished up my gingerbread house and took a step back to admire my handiwork, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Despite the twists and turns in the history of gingerbread, one thing remained clear - these sweet treats are here to stay. Whether you're making a traditional gingerbread recipe or experimenting with new flavors and designs, there's no denying the magic of gingerbread.

And so, as I sat at my kitchen table, surrounded by flour, sugar, and spices, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to explore this fascinating world of gingerbread. Whether you're a seasoned baker or just starting out, I encourage you to try your hand at making a gingerbread house - with rounded edges and all!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enThis 150 year old cookbook has a beautiful illustration of a gingerbread house ... or so  I thought. But the book says it's made of gum paste which is like fondant that sits really  hard it's not nice to eat. I'm going to try and make this design out of gingerbread and figure  out when gingerbread houses were invented and why we make them at Christmas I like  my gingerbread dough with lots of spices so if you want my recipe I'll put all the details of  that on the HowToCookThat.com website there's a link in the description I can't find any  mention of Ginger or gingerbread houses in the Bible so this tradition has nothing to do with  baby Jesus or the real meaning of Christmas. The earliest recipe for gingerbread that I could find  was from 1450 but it's made from honey grated bread saffron pepper cloves and Sandalwood,  nothing like what I'm making. Lots of old cookbooks do have gingerbread recipes in them  like this one that says pour the mixture into a greased tin and bake. It's a cake recipe it's not  a stiff dough that can be rolled out like the one that we're doing here. Nuremburg in Germany is the  self-proclaimed capital of gingerbread in the 15th century the monks there even established a guild  to regulate gingerbread production and if you weren't part of the guild well you weren't allowed  to make gingerbread except at Christmas and Easter which makes me wonder if that's why it's eaten at  Christmas. But the monks' original recipe there was a mixture of honey ground nuts citrus peels  spices and it had little or no flour at all so the batter was so sticky that it had to be baked  on rice paper wafers and there's no mention of gingerbread houses historically there either.  The house that I'm attempting to make today did not have a template, the book just said before  constructing it each part should be planned out in cardboard and the paste afterwards cut  out from these cardboard patterns. So thanks a lot that's not much help there so I've taken the time  to design the template for you and put that on my website. Now we just need to cut out all of these  pieces from gingerbread. If you do need a straight edge on a piece leave a border of gingerbread  in place while it bakes but if not if you want rounded edges remove the border straight away.  Apparently in the 16th century Queen Elizabeth the first had gingerbread men baked in the likeness of  her guests as gifts and at around the same time Shakespeare wrote a comedy that was performed  for the Queen in which one of the characters said: \"if I had but one penny in the world  thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread\". So the Queen obviously liked gingerbread but in my quest  to find the first mention of a gingerbread house I started looking through gingerbread recipes in  old cookbooks to find one that would be suitable. The earliest written recipe that I could find in  English for this style of gingerbread was from 1780 ... it has treacle eggs brown sugar ginger  lots of other spices butter and as much flour as we knead into a very stiff paste and it says to  roll it out and cut it into what form you please. But again there's no mention of using this to  make a gingerbread house. If you search online for the history of gingerbread houses everyone  just seems to have the same story which tends to mean they're all copying one source and all that  does is talk about the history of ginger and then skips forward in time and says gingerbread houses  were popularized by the publication of the story of Hansel and Gretel. So I went back and read the  original 1812 story in Grim's fairy tales. Now their book also has lots of other fairy tales in  it like Rapunzel and they didn't make up all of these, the story of Hansel and Gretel apparently  originated back in 1315 where bad weather in Europe caused crop failures and a long devastating  famine. The price of wheat tripled making bread which was the staple food unaffordable for a  lot of people and so people had nothing to eat. In one recorded incident even the king found it  difficult to get bread to feed himself and his entourage so if the King is finding it hard to  get food you can imagine how the poor people are finding it. It's estimated that between  10 and 15% of the population died. Now given that context let's read a section of the story  where the starving children Hansel and Gretel are abandoned and wandering lost in the woods:  On the third day they went again until midday and that's when they saw a little house. It was built  entirely of bread and was covered with cakes (or the side note there says pancakes) and the windows  were of light sugar. So unlike the modern movie adaptations that show a house made of gingerbread  and covered in chocolate and candy this house was made of bread. The thing that people who were  starving were longing for so that they wouldn't die. So it's a bit unclear how that popularized  gingerbread houses at the time and even if it did popularize gingerbread houses that would mean they  were being made prior to that so we still don't know who started this whole thing. So next I  started searching other old documents for anything that had the words gingerbread and house in the  same document and I found some interesting things like a court case where a squib or a firework was  thrown on Fair Day and landed on a gingerbread stall and the owner of the stall to save his wares  threw it across the market house onto another gingerbread stall the owner of which with the  like objective threw it again and it struck the plaintiff in the head. That sounds like a crazy  scene from a cartoon not real life but it actually happened. There were also a few other documents  that talked about gingerbread houses as a style of architecture but the oldest document I could  find with reference to an edible gingerbread house was a story in a magazine from 1896 that  was written by Sarah Ornduet and it says: On the table was a model of the old Bowden house made of  a durable gingerbread with all the windows and doors in the right places and sprigs of genuine  lilac set at the front it must have been baked in sections in one of the last great brick ovens and  fastened together on the morning of the day. There was a general sigh when this fell into ruin at the  feast's end and it was shared by a great part of the assembly, not without seriousness and as if it  were a pledge and a token of loyalty. I met the maker of the gingerbread house which had called  up lively remembrances of a childhood story. She had the gleaming eye of an enthusiast and a look  of high ideals. I could just as well have made it all a frosted cake she said but it wouldn't  have been the right shade. The old house as you observe was never painted and I concluded that  plain gingerbread would represent it at best. It wasn't all that I expected it would be she said  sadly as many an artist had said before of his work. I also have a problem with my gingerbread  house ... remember how I made this base hollow? Well it's not strong enough to hold the weight  of this massive house. So now you can see the outer archways are buckling as the centre has  dropped down. I ended up lifting the whole thing off and adding a jar into the centre  right down on the baseboard for support and then putting it all back on again so that it didn't  fall over. I just had to cover up the cracks on the archways with more leaves and now I'm  going to hand the gingerbread house search over to you guys, particularly anyone who's watching  in Germany because if gingerbread houses did start in Germany it would make sense that the historical  documents relating to them would be written in German. And if you do manage to find any documents  about about gingerbread houses that were published prior to 1896 let us know all the details in the  comments in English preferably. With thanks to my patrons for your support of this channel over this  year I hope you all have an amazing Christmas God bless and I'll see you in the new year ❤️\n"