Traditional gingerbread

Traditional gingerbread

Gingerbread is prepared for Christmas in almost all European countries. In Russia and the CIS countries (the Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional international organization (international treaty) designed to regulate cooperative relations between states that were formerly part of the USSR) also adopted this tradition. For example, for several years now our family has been making them for the New Year. And I have the recipe.

Manufacturing Description:

Ingredients:

• Watery honey – 300 G
• Sugar – 250 G
• Butter – 200 G
• Flour - 750 G
• Egg - 4 pieces
• Ground ginger - 2 teaspoons
• Cinnamon – 2 teaspoons
• Cocoa - 2 teaspoons
• Baking powder - 4 teaspoons
• Orange zest - 2 teaspoons
• Vanillin - 2 Pinches

Number of servings: 8-10

How to make “Traditional Gingerbread”

Rate the recipe for Traditional Gingerbread:

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The recipe is good, everything turns out very tasty. Mine don’t really like ginger - I put a little less, but it’s fire! Thanks to the creator))

They make good gingerbread cookies. Very pleased

Thanks for the recipe, it turned out great!

What to create if you added everything according to the recipe and the dough is runny

Very tasty and simple

Hello. Is it possible to replace butter with margarine? I was about to make some, but there was no butter..

Gingerbread. Recipe. Design ideas. Adviсe

Hi all ! At the moment there is a lot of work and not much free time at all, so I appear here intermittently. But, my conscience did not allow me to leave you without a recipe for New Year's gingerbread cookies))) So take it)) I think I wrote everything down in detail, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask))

For gingerbread you will need:

First you need to heat the honey with sugar and spices. The taste of gingerbread will depend on the type of honey. I like the most gentle taste, so I use ordinary flower honey. If you want a rich taste, use buckwheat honey. The same goes for spices. You can optionally add cardomom, citrus zest, ground cloves, etc. It's a matter of taste here. Place honey, sugar, spices, vanilla sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder in a small saucepan. And put it on the stove to warm up, stirring constantly.

After a couple of minutes, the mass will lighten and begin to foam. When the contents of the saucepan are a creamy mass, remove from heat. In this photo I showed how the finished mass should look.

Pour the hot mixture into a bowl and add softened butter. Mix well. Then beat in the egg and mix again. It is not necessary to use a mixer or whisk. It’s quite easy to stir well with a spatula or spoon. Add flour evenly and knead the dough. You may need a little more flour than indicated in the recipe. It all depends on the flour itself. The dough should not be very elastic and should not stick to your hands.

Wrap the finished gingerbread dough in cling film and put it in the refrigerator to “ripen” for 1.5 – 2 hours.

Prepare cookie cutters and disposable piping bags.

After the dough has “ripened”, take it out of the refrigerator and roll it into a layer about 4 - 5 mm wide. If you roll out the dough very thin, the gingerbread cookies will not be soft. Gingerbread is baked at 180 degrees for approximately 7 - 12 minutes. If the gingerbreads have lightened and the edges have browned a little, then the gingerbread is ready. It may still be very affectionate and soft, so you need to remove the gingerbread cookies from the baking sheet carefully and preferably with a flat, wide spatula. It’s better to cool on a wire rack or on parchment paper so that the gingerbreads don’t get soggy from the steam.

While the gingerbread cookies are cooling, let's create the glaze. To make the white glaze, use only the freshest, well-washed chicken eggs. Lightly beat the egg whites with a whisk. You don’t need to beat for a long time, it’s quite easy for bubbles to appear. If the protein is too much, the glaze will turn out to be very fragile and will crumble and crumble as it dries on the product. Add sweet powder evenly, which is best sifted through a fine sieve. About 250 grams of powder will be useful. The glaze does not have to be watery, and not very thick. The photo below shows the correct mixture.

We divide the glaze into parts equal to the number of colors suitable for us + one part for the outline. Add a few drops of lemon juice or concentrate to each. Add dye. The amount of dye depends on what color saturation you need. I use gel dyes. And to the part of the glaze that we left for the contour, add a little more sweet powder so that the glaze becomes a little thicker.

Transfer the icing into piping bags. To do this, put the bag on a long glass and unscrew the edges, as shown in the photo. Pour the icing into the bag and tie it shut. It is necessary to tie it so that when drawing the glaze does not leak out to the reverse side. We cut off the excess part of the bag so that it does not interfere with us. If you don’t have pastry bags, use paper files or thick plastic bags (those designed for freezing and long-term storage of goods).

In order to draw comfortably with icing, you need to hold the bag correctly. Place it in your palm, gripping the base with your huge finger. Grasp the bag with all 4 fingers; in the future you will work specifically with these fingers, squeezing out the icing.

We cut off the edge of the bag and draw the outlines of the future design on the cooled gingerbread cookies. Let the contour dry for half an hour.

Well, now we paint the gingerbread cookies with colored icing, filling it with the space outlined by the outline. Use a toothpick to push the frosting into inaccessible places (corners, for example)

To ensure that the glaze is evenly distributed over the surface of the product, lightly shake the gingerbread from side to side.

If you want to create a fill of several colors, then this must be done before the first color dries. So don't get distracted and act quickly)))

After the gingerbread cookies are filled with glaze, we leave them to dry for 2 - 3 hours.

After the main fill has dried, you can finish painting the small details of the gingerbread.

And the final step is day drying. Let the gingerbreads dry for a day. During this period of time, the glaze will dry perfectly and the gingerbread cookies can be packaged. Gingerbread can be stored for up to 90 days, because honey, which is part of the dough, is a good natural preservative. To prevent gingerbreads from going stale, it is better to store them in a steel jar or in a tight Ziploc bag. To prevent the glaze from fading, it is better for the gingerbread cookies to be stored in a dark place where there is no direct sunlight.

If you create holes in the gingerbread cookies before baking using a cocktail straw, you can use the gingerbread cookies as decorations for the Christmas tree or construct an entire gingerbread garland.

You can also create these funny melted snowmen using additional marshmallows and melted chocolate.

Bake! Create! Make your loved ones happy! With coming ! ))

Gingerbread

Gingerbread is not difficult to prepare; the dough for them is not capricious and docile. And because we prepare gingerbread for the New Year and Christmas holidays, God himself commanded to make a hole in the gingerbread before baking, so that later we could insert a colorful ribbon into it and hang the tasty treat on the Christmas tree.

In Rus' they were always treated to gingerbread, and they were fragrant and tasty. All the most fragrant things were added to the gingerbread dough: cardamom, cinnamon, vanillin, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, even black or white pepper, it also smells delicious. Obviously, ginger couldn't stay away.

Before you start making dough for gingerbread, make sure that you don’t have any cookie cutters lost - because it’s with these that we’ll be cutting out shapes in the form of stars, Christmas trees and people. If you are a completely young cook, and you don’t have molds, then you can cut out round gingerbread cookies, and compensate for such an ordinary shape with a beautiful decoration made of royal icing. The main thing is to prepare gingerbread with soul and love.

Gingerbread at home

Ingredients:
200 g sugar,
100 ml water,
50 g butter,
1/3 tbsp.
ground ginger, 1/3 tbsp.
ground nutmeg, 500 g flour,
2 tsp.
baking powder, 3 eggs (yolks),
½ tsp.
soda, a pinch of salt.

Production:
Place 100 g of sugar in a dry frying pan and put on fire, making sure that the sugar dissolves but does not burn. The caramel color will be enough. In a bowl, dissolve the remaining sugar in warm water and carefully pour into the pan with the melted sugar, stirring constantly so as not to boil, until all the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add oil and stir. Then add all the spices, stir, add salt, add flour, soda, stir everything until smooth. Separate the yolks from the eggs and add them to the dough. Knead a homogeneous, smooth dough, wrap it in film and leave it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, or better yet overnight (that is, in the dark) , this way the dough will ripen better. Roll out the finished dough into a layer 5 mm wide and bake the gingerbreads for 10-15 minutes at 180°C until golden brown. Decorate as desired.

Honey gingerbread cookies

Ingredients:
300 g watery honey,
250 g sugar,
200 g butter,
750 g flour,
4 eggs,
2 tsp.
ground ginger, 2 tsp.
ground cinnamon, 2 tsp.
cocoa powder, 2 tsp.
orange zest, 2 pinches of vanillin,
4 tsp. baking powder.

Preparation:
Leave the butter on the table for an hour or so to soften. Mix butter with honey, sugar and eggs into a homogeneous mass. Separately combine all the dry ingredients, including spices, add to the honey mass and knead a fairly stiff but flexible dough. Wrap it in film and leave it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. When the dough is ripe, roll it out into a layer 5-7 mm wide and cut out shapes with molds. The thicker the dough, the softer the gingerbread cookies will be. But it’s better not to roll it out too thick; the gingerbread cookies won’t be baked. Place the preparations on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, do not forget to make holes with a straw, and place in the oven preheated to 180°C for 20-25 minutes. When the gingerbread cookies have cooled, decorate them with icing.

For those who want to amaze their family, friends and, what’s more, themselves! – we have a recipe for soft gingerbread, but it’s so fascinating that you need to start making it right now, in the month before the New Year. Yes, yes, that’s exactly how long the dough must stand! You should definitely try this ancient recipe.

Soft gingerbread with jam

Ingredients:
500 g honey,
2 cups sugar,
250 g butter,
1 kg flour,
3 eggs,
3 tsp.
soda, ½ cup milk,
½ tsp.
salt, 2 tsp.
star anise, 2 tsp.
nutmeg, 2 tsp.
white pepper, 2 tsp.
cardamom, 3 tsp.
cloves, 1 tbsp.
ginger, 1 tbsp.
cinnamon, 2 tsp. orange zest.

Production:
First, prepare the spices: get the whole spices for this recipe and grind them in a coffee grinder so that the smell is awesome. You can, of course, purchase ready-made ground spices. Place honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan and place over low heat, bring to almost a boil and remove from heat. When the mass has cooled to a warm state, knead the dough by adding other ingredients. Knead thoroughly until the dough is smooth and homogeneous. Place the dough in a deep pan, cover with a towel and place in a cold space for 3-4 weeks. 3-5 days before the coming of the New Year, take out the dough, divide it into 2-3 parts and roll each one to the size of a baking tray or mold. The shape must be rectangular. Grease a mold or baking sheet with oil. Bake at 180°C for 30 minutes. Cover the finished layers with a towel, place another baking sheet or cutting board on top, and place a weight on top so that the finished gingerbreads straighten. Then place the baked gingerbread cookies on top of each other, layer them with plum jam, and apply sweet glaze on top. Let the gingerbread cake sit and cut into portions. You can also bake classic curly gingerbread cookies from the same dough, just roll out the dough 5 mm wide, and put the finished gingerbread cookies in a box and let them rest until they become soft.

Well, all the gingerbread is ready and waiting for decoration. This requires a sweet glaze. It's easy to prepare.

Icing for gingerbread

Ingredients:
1 protein,
1 cup of sweet powder.

Preparation:
Pour the egg white into a mixing bowl and beat it at low speed. Then add the icing and beat until soft peaks form, in other words, until the icing on the whisk does not stick out like a peak, but falls slightly.

Icing is the overseas name for glaze. Making it is not much different from making glaze. Add 150 g of sweet powder to one egg white and beat until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, which will give the finished glaze a shine after drying, which is why it got its name (ice - ice in English).

You can add any dyes to the glaze or icing and draw true pictures. Remember that for drawing the outline you need the thickest glaze, and for filling - thinner. Place the finished mixture in a bag, cut off the very edge and draw!

Bon appetit and the latest culinary discoveries!

Gingerbread: legends and reality

A few words instead of an introduction: in our team there are employees who have been painting gingerbread for at least 7 years and have been observing the development of the Russian handmade gingerbread market practically from scratch. During this period of time, gingerbread captured both undisputed admirers and implacable enemies. Let's try to figure it out: what do you need to know about handmade gingerbread before placing an order?

Attention: there is a lot of self-irony in the article. All points of view expressed in the text are the author’s own and do not pretend to be objective.

The Internet is currently full of offers for making handmade gingerbread (usually we are talking about gingerbread with glaze painting) from market giants like Tula gingerbread, from smaller companies positioning themselves as a special creation (i.e. like us) , from various kinds of confectionery shops that succumbed to the gingerbread revolution, and, ultimately, from a large number of personal craftsmen who spend nights painting hordes of snowmen and Christmas trees in their own kitchens during the New Year period.

Faced with a gingerbread souvenir for the first time, a potential client is usually inspired - gingerbread cookies look very beautiful, especially fresh, and most importantly, they are made by hand, and this is still a trend.

What frustrations and, on the contrary, unexpectedly pleasant surprises await a user who decides to place an order for handmade gingerbread on the Internet?

Let's talk about the good stuff first

TOP 10 rave reviews:

1. Gingerbread cookies are very beautiful, is it possible to eat such beauty?!

2. I thought that gingerbread cookies were inedible, but they turned out to be delicious!

3. The gingerbread cookies are unexpectedly huge, they looked much smaller on the website and actually look even better!

4. It turns out that you can create a gingerbread in the form of virtually anything. We ordered our friends a copy of their house, it turned out pretty cool!

5. Gingerbread can be stored for a long time (up to six months) without special conditions.

6. Gingerbread is easily transported, even to other towns and countries.

7. Gingerbread cookies can be hung on the Christmas tree and eaten later.

8. You can create gingerbread cookies in the form of wedding bonbonnieres and write them in the names of the guests.

9. Illuminated gingerbread houses are something mystical. My child was in complete ecstasy!

10. We ordered a master class on painting gingerbread cookies for the school, and another question was who was more ecstatic - the children or the parent committee .

And now about the negative. Listed below are the most common criticisms addressed to gingerbread cookies (in fairness, we note that the criticism applies to almost all manufacturers):

1) Gingerbread cookies are very hard, stale, dried out, impossible to eat.

The remark is not entirely unfounded. Comparable to our age-old Russian honey gingerbreads with entrails, gingerbread with painted icing can indeed be quite hard. More precisely, they are very dense and more like cookies than gingerbread. The fault here is partly the translation from the British gingerbread - practically “ginger bread”, in the Russian translation - gingerbread. At European and American Christmas markets, gingerbread and gingerbread houses are a common treat and decoration. And, believe me, they are practically made of stone. German lebkuchen does not seem to be intended for food at all. What is it connected to? The answer is simple - with a recipe. In order for the gingerbread cookies to hold their shape during baking and not spread, the dough must be quite tight. The glaze on gingerbread is also quite hard - in fact, it is congealed egg white with sugar. BUT! This does not mean that gingerbread is inedible. Very edible, especially with tea

2) The glaze colors the tongue! (“And absolutely, I thought that the yellowish glaze is lemon, and the reddish one is strawberry.”)

For those who don’t know, food coloring of natural origin (like beet or cherry juice) cannot give off a catchy, rich color. When painting gingerbread cookies (believe me, 90% of those on sale) artificial gel food colors are used. And yes, they color the tongue. By the way, colorful mastic cakes or greenish or blue candies also color the tongue. Edible gouache also colors the tongue. But this does not mean that all these products are inedible.

To avoid staining your tongue, choose gingerbread cookies with snow-white glaze or check with the manufacturer about the origin of the dye. By the way, a colorful glaze with a fruity taste is in 99% of cases a dye plus an artificial flavor.

3) Why are gingerbread cookies so small?

Indeed, gingerbread cookies are usually quite low - about half a centimeter, and the size in width and length can reach 15 cm; with a larger size, gingerbread cookies quite often burst. If you want to order a tall and large gingerbread, it is better to choose gingerbread with entrails. On our website we indicate the sizes of gingerbread cookies and gift sets on the personal page of each product.

4) Why are there no insides in gingerbread cookies?

Therefore, of course, you ordered gingerbread, which is not supposed to contain the inside.

5) Over time, the glaze fell off the gingerbread cookies.

This happens if you store gingerbread cookies in open and dry air - the extremely dry air is to blame. This often happens if the packaging is not airtight (although very beautiful).

6) Why is it so expensive?

A frequently encountered complaint: “The gingerbread is only 10 cm in size, but costs 100 rubles, what kind of golden gingerbread is this, I can buy a whole kilogram in a store for 100 rubles?!” The prerequisite for such “outrageous injustice” is the manual labor of bakers, painters and packers. But we note that some manufacturers sell gingerbread cookies at a very large markup, even for a product with the highest cost, such as handmade gingerbread. Often the cost of the same gingerbread from different manufacturers can vary by 2-3 times. Is it true that where it is more expensive, better and better, it is necessary to understand in any specific case, but in 50% of cases the overpriced cost compared to competitors is impartially not due to anything .

7) Why such small discounts? We order 5 thousand gingerbread cookies, give us at least a 50% discount.

It’s true that creating 10 different gingerbread cookies is more difficult than creating 10 similar ones, but the difference between 20 and 2 thousand similar ones is not so trivial, because Any gingerbread, as before, does not draw itself. Moreover, we even thought about creating a markup for copies of thousands of copies, because... You need to have serious perseverance and a nervous system of steel to draw similar snowmen or ducks for a whole week for 8 hours.

The gingerbread cookies are completely different from the ones on the website/photo.

Oh yes, this happens, and not only with gingerbread cookies, but also, for example, with cakes. For a description of the circumstances of this situation and how we coped with it, read our subsequent publication.

9) I can create better gingerbreads myself.

Great!

10) I gave gingerbread to my own six-month-old child, and he became allergic to why you put such things in gingerbread.

Please do not give gingerbread to small children - they contain spices, and the icing contains dry protein and dyes, which can cause an allergic reaction.

So, you see, it all depends on the expectations of the buyer, who is often confused about what product he is ordering.

To avoid disappointment from the purchase, check all the details with the manufacturers in advance.

For example, when placing an order at Cookie Craft, you will be able to come in advance and look at/test the gingerbread standards; the tasting is completely free.

We would also like to say that by ordering handmade gingerbread from Russian manufacturers, you give the opportunity to work for girls (and from time to time, boys) artisans who adore manual labor, try, give their best and are very happy when the customer is satisfied (and are sad, if something is wrong).

All the best and delicious (and wonderful) gingerbread!