Gingerbread is one of the favorite sweet treats of children and adults around the world. They are baked from a special dough, the main components of which are flour and. All other components may vary.
Gingerbread dough is one of the oldest in the world. First confectionery they began to cook from it in ancient Egypt - in one of the tombs of this period, archaeologists discovered similar pastries. Today, real masterpieces are created from gingerbread dough - gingerbread houses and palaces, which become the decoration of any festive table.
general characteristics
In Europe, products from gingerbread dough were the first to be prepared by the Germanic tribes. Later, the "baton" was picked up by the East-West Slavs. In the eighteenth century, Czechs and Poles discovered gingerbread.
It was during this period that gingerbread dough began to be actively flavored with a variety of spices, as well as adding new components to the traditional recipe. It could be eggs, nuts and candied fruits, as well.
Types of gingerbread dough
According to the manufacturing method, gingerbread dough is divided into two types: regular (raw) and custard. Let's consider them in more detail.
The conventional or raw method actually appeared much later than its competitor. According to this technology, first prepare sugar syrup. Melted butter, honey and other ingredients are added to it. This cooking method is common in modern industry because it requires less time.
The custard method is considered more ancient. Moreover, many gourmets are convinced that only gingerbread prepared in this way are "real". This technology provides that flour is poured into the heated syrup of honey and sugar. The mixture is left to infuse for two to three weeks in a cool, dark room. Just before the baking process itself, spices and all other ingredients are added to the dough. To date choux pastry v industrial environment do not use, prepare it exclusively at home.
Note, regardless of the method of preparation, gingerbread dough is considered one of the easiest to prepare. In addition, thanks to the wonderful aroma of spices and the opportunity to show imagination, children adore working with it.
Energy value, composition and useful properties
Thanks to its ingredients, gingerbread dough is very high in calories. His the energy value- 336 kcal per 100 g. The composition of the food components is as follows: 4.8 g, 2.8 g and 77.7 g.
V chemical composition prepared using the traditional recipe for gingerbread dough includes, A, and PP. It also contains potassium, iron, phosphorus, calcium and sodium.
Gingerbread dough
Gingerbread dough gained particular popularity in the nineteenth century, but it was known as far back as medieval Europe. Even then, at fairs, products made from gingerbread text with the addition of ginger root were sold. As a rule, such gingerbreads were ornately decorated, and sometimes even covered with decorative gilding.
However, it was in the 19th century that the fashion for gingerbread for Christmas literally swept Europe. German Nuremberg was recognized as the world capital of gingerbread - it was here that confectioners achieved unprecedented skill in creating baked goods of the most incredible shapes. Palaces, mills, figurines of kings and queens were made from gingerbread dough in this German city.
Place butter, sugar, honey and all seasonings in a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and sugar are completely dissolved. After that, cool and add the eggs. Stir. Enter the baking powder and start adding flour in small portions, remembering to mix thoroughly. Ready dough should not stick to your hands. Put it in the refrigerator for half an hour, after which you can begin to form pastries.
A few little secrets:
- To keep the gingerbread cookies in their original shape, roll out the dough and cut out the figures directly on the baking sheet.
- Leave gaps between the gingerbread cookies on the baking sheet so that they have somewhere to rise.
- Gingerbread it is considered ready when it is lightly browned and rises around the edges. After that, take it out of the oven, but let it lie on a baking sheet.
- You can decorate products only after they have completely cooled down.
Gingerbread dough - custard method
You will need: three cups of flour, a quarter cup, half a teaspoon of soda, 50 g of oil, one cup of honey, a quarter of a spoon of chopped spices and a couple of eggs.
Place honey and sugar in a saucepan, pour water and cook thick syrup. Strain it through a sieve, add oil, stir until completely dissolved. After that, sift the flour and mix it with spices. Start gradually adding the mixture to the hot syrup, constantly stirring the mass with a wooden spatula. Please note that if the flour is left unmixed for at least a couple of minutes, lumps will form, which you will not be able to get rid of later.
Cool the mixed dough until room temperature. Add eggs and baking powder and mix until dough is soft. After that, start shaping the pastries.
Cooking honey gingerbread dough
You will need: 225 g honey, 225 g sugar, 125 g water, a couple of eggs, 80 g butter, 15 g cocoa powder, 150 g , 400 g , 1 teaspoon of soda and a teaspoon of dry ground spices.
Pour half the sugar into a dry frying pan. Choose a frying pan with a thick bottom. Sugar should be melted to a state of rich caramel.
Pour 125 g of boiling water into the melted sugar and mix. If you notice that there are hardened pieces in the caramel, boil it over low heat until they dissolve. After that, add the remaining sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Boil the caramel over medium heat for three minutes.
Remove caramel from heat and add butter and honey to it. Stir until the mass becomes homogeneous. Please note that if you are using candied honey, then you must first warm it up until it becomes liquid.
The next step is adding spices to the mixture. After that, sift 80 g into the hot mass wheat flour and mix thoroughly. The mixture must cool down. At this time, in another container, mix 150 g rye flour, 150 g wheat flour, cocoa powder and soda.
Add the eggs to the cooled spice mixture and mix thoroughly. Then add the dry mixture of flour, baking soda and cocoa. You can start kneading the dough, gradually adding the remaining wheat flour.
The dough is considered ready when it is soft, tender, but not liquid. If you plan to make a gingerbread house, then the dough should be thicker than for regular gingerbread.
Transfer the finished dough into a bag and place in the refrigerator for a day. After that, you can start working with him.
How can you tint and flavor the dough
The traditional aromatic mixture for gingerbread is as follows: 35% coriander, 30 percent, ten percent cardamom and five percent allspice, cloves and. Of course, the ratio can be changed. Also, for flavor, lemon or lemon is often added to gingerbread. orange peel and vanilla sugar.
Please note that if you are making gingerbread cookies from dark honey and dark flour, then the dough can not be tinted. Gingerbread made from light honey can be tinted with burnt sugar by adding it to honey syrup at the very beginning of the dough preparation process.
Another option is to tint the dough with cocoa powder or melted dark bitter.
Panpepato "Peppered Bread" is a variation on the theme of an old winter pastry typical of the central regions of Italy. This traditional Christmas treat is unusual in that ground black pepper is added to it. Many articles by eminent professors have been written about the benefits of Panpepato! Still, because in the composition of this delicacy only natural ingredients. The Italians claim that such bread fills with energy, protects against diseases and even lowers cholesterol! Many even consider it to be an aphrodisiac))) You should definitely try this fragrant, healthy and unusually tasty miracle of baking! You can, like many modern Italian chefs, replace black pepper with vanilla, and then Panpepato will become less spicy, but no less tasty ... And be sure to use Mistral's brown sugar, it will give the dish an incredible aroma and taste!!! And most importantly, in this wonderful dish, all components of plant origin. That is, you can safely please this cake and energize yourself and your loved ones in fasting.
Almonds Hazelnuts Walnuts Dried fruits Raisins Cocoa powder brown sugar Honey Cinnamon Nutmeg Black pepper Wheat flour
Gingerbread has long ceased to be a trivial pastry, now it is a real work of art, which sometimes allows you to reveal a real artist in a confectioner. In addition to the fact that such sweet masterpieces must be beautiful, they must also be delicious. To fulfill the last condition, you need to reveal the secret of how to properly prepare an appetizing and fragrant gingerbread dough. Below are seven worthy recipes for different kind gingerbread.
Gingerbread house is a fairy tale in miniature that you can create in your own kitchen. During the New Year holidays, such a culinary and architectural masterpiece will cause more admiration among adults and children than a decorated two-meter Christmas tree.
If, in anticipation of the upcoming holidays, the desire to create something like that wakes up, then you need to roll up your sleeves and prepare:
- 250 g of honey;
- 250 g sugar;
- 150 g butter;
- 1 egg;
- 25 g cocoa;
- 20 ml of rum or cognac;
- 5 g baking powder;
- 625 g flour;
- a bouquet of spices for gingerbread to taste.
Step by step kneading dough:
- Sugar, butter and honey are heated on the stove until all the grains and crystals are completely dissolved, the mixture should not boil.
- Sift half of the total norm of flour with cocoa, spices and baking powder.
- Pour the egg and cognac loosened into a homogeneous liquid into the honey mixture that has cooled to a warm state. Next, fold in the flour mixture in small amounts.
- Flour is introduced into the dough until the mass becomes dense, but is still elastic. In order for all the properties of the test to be fully revealed, it should spend a night or a day in the refrigerator.
For the walls and roof of the house, the dough must be rolled out into a layer of 5 mm thick. If you put crushed caramel in the window slots, then after baking you will get windows with multi-colored glasses. In this case, you only need to bake gingerbread cookies on parchment greased with vegetable oil.
Cooking in the raw way
The raw method is considered simplified, since in this case it is not necessary to boil the flour, all the ingredients are simply mixed at room temperature. As a result, the dough is quite loose and at the same time viscous.
A simple recipe for such gingerbread includes:
- 250 g sugar;
- 100 ml of water;
- 50 g butter;
- 3 g of soda;
- 1.5 g vanillin;
- 390-460 g flour.
Mixing algorithm:
- Dissolve sugar and vanilla in warm water. When the syrup has cooled to room temperature, add soft butter to it and mix thoroughly.
- Combine flour with soda, sift, and then mix in portions into the dough. Immediately after kneading, you can start shaping and baking products. The recommended thickness of dough rolling is 5 - 6 mm.
In order for raw-mixed gingerbread to please with its taste, it is important to monitor the temperature of the dough. It should not exceed 22 degrees, otherwise the mass will drag on and clog with flour. At higher temperatures, simply shorten the mixing time.
For painted gingerbread
Now gingerbread in the form of various cartoon characters painted with color is very popular. sugar icing. With minimal drawing skills, it is not at all difficult to prepare them at home, you just need to choose a dough recipe that, after baking, will have a smooth surface suitable for painting and a crumbly texture.
All these criteria are met by the dough prepared according to the following recipe:
- 100 g of powdered sugar;
- 1 egg;
- 50 ml of vegetable oil;
- 50 g honey;
- 3 g salt;
- 10 g cocoa;
- 3.5 g of soda;
- 3.5 - 7 g of dry perfume for gingerbread;
- 220 g flour.
Mixing technology:
- In a bowl, put the powder, egg, vegetable oil and honey. Mix everything thoroughly (do not beat, namely mix) with a whisk.
- Combine flour with cocoa, soda, salt and spices. Add the resulting mixture in a couple of spoons to the liquid components and knead the dough.
- Collect it in a shiny lump, when touched, you can feel a slight honey stickiness, and send it to ripen in the refrigerator for a day.
In order for the gingerbread cookies to be ideal for painting, they need to be rolled out to the same thickness and their surface should be made even, not sloping.
To evenly roll out the dough, you can use a special rolling pin or simply roll out the mass between two wooden planks of the desired thickness. To level the surface of the gingerbread will help a wooden plank, placed for five minutes on top of baking, just taken out of the oven.
Gingerbread dough in a custard way
With all the variety of recipes, experienced chefs insist that real gingerbread dough is prepared only in custard. In this case, the kneading technology includes three main stages: brewing flour with sweet honey-sugar syrup, cooling the custard base and direct kneading.
The list of ingredients needed for custard gingerbread dough:
- 100 ml of liquid honey;
- 150 g of sugar;
- 100 ml of water;
- 3.5 g spice mixture for gingerbread;
- 390 - 420 g flour;
- 3.5 g of soda;
- 20 g butter;
- 2 eggs.
How to cook dough in a custard way:
- Combine water, honey and sugar in a saucepan. Bring this mixture to a temperature of 70 - 80 degrees, then pour half the prescription amount of flour mixed with spices. Quickly stir the resulting composition so that there are no lumps, and brew. The brewed dough will gather in a lump and will leave a thin film of flour on the bottom of the dish.
- Sift the rest of the flour with baking soda. Whisk the eggs with a fork into the liquid egg mixture. Soften butter at room temperature. When the custard base of the dough has cooled to almost room temperature, combine it with the rest of the prepared ingredients and knead the dough.
You can bake products from this type of dough immediately after kneading, but for gingerbread with complex sinuous edges, it is better to cool it for 10-12 hours. So it will be easier to work with the mass.
Cooking technology from Julia Small
Popular food blogger Julia Small on her channel offers her own basic recipe gingerbread dough. To add flavor to baked goods, she recommends using her favorite spices: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, anise and ginger, as well as citrus peel.
The proportions of ingredients for one portion of the dough will be as follows:
- 100 g of softened butter;
- 100 g of sugar;
- 1 egg;
- 50 g honey;
- 250 - 300 g flour;
- 3.5 g of soda;
- 10 g of ginger;
- 5 g cinnamon.
Sequence of actions:
- First you need to prepare a mixture of dry dough ingredients. To do this, flour is sifted into a bowl, soda and spices are added to it, everything is carefully stirred with a dry hand whisk.
- Next, the butter is whipped with a mixer with a norm of sugar. When the mass brightens and becomes lush, beat in the egg and again mix everything with a mixer until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the oil mixture in two steps. Mix the dough well. Then collect it in a bun, transfer it to a bowl, which is covered with cling film, and refrigerate for a couple of hours (ideally overnight). This will make the dough firmer and easier to work with.
To get a darker dough, you can use brown sugar instead of regular sugar or replace part of the flour with cocoa powder.
Goat dough
Kozuli are gingerbreads that were cooked in the server regions of Russia (for example, in Arkhangelsk). Instead of spices, northern herbs were added to them, which gave the products a unique aroma and extended their shelf life.
With the spread of spices, the recipe for real roes was lost, but other features of the dough remained.
Gingerbread dough is still kneaded with burnt sugar and two types of flour (wheat and rye):
- 250 g sugar;
- 125 ml of boiling water;
- 100 g butter;
- 1 egg and 2 yolks;
- 3.5 g of soda;
- 1.5 g salt;
- 300 g wheat flour;
- 200 g peeled rye flour;
- 5 - 7 g or to taste a mixture of spices for gingerbread.
Progress:
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan or cast iron pan with high walls, add sugar and melt it to a dark caramel state (like milk toffee). At this time, you need to keep a kettle of boiling water on hand.
- As soon as the sugar is the desired condition, pour the required volume of boiling water into it and stir. Following water to sugar, send soda, spices and oil. The last component is laid out in a whole piece and everything is stirred until smooth.
- Received liquid foundation should be a beautiful amber color. Before the next step, it must be allowed to cool to room temperature. Whisk the eggs until smooth and mix with the cooled rare composition.
- Then it remains to gradually add a mixture of two types of flour and knead soft dough, which then also needs to spend the night in the refrigerator to finally ripen.
Goat dough is perfect for both thin openwork gingerbread cookies and thicker baking, you can also make gingerbread houses from it. If you don't have a special spice mixture for gingerbread on hand, you can replace it with a mixture for making mulled wine, ground in a coffee grinder.
On burnt sugar
Burnt sugar is used not only for traditional roes, but also in other recipes for gingerbread made with wheat flour.
Here is one of them:
- 100 g of sugar;
- 50 ml of boiling water;
- 150 g of honey;
- 150 g butter;
- 5 g of soda;
- 10 - 14 g of a mixture of ground spices for gingerbread;
- 1 egg;
- 350 g flour.
Preparing the gingerbread dough:
- In a heavy-bottomed bowl, prepare the sugar caramel. Remove the melted composition from the fire, pour boiling water into it and stir
- Then add spices, soda, add honey and return to the fire. With intensive and continuous stirring, boil the mixture for 2-3 minutes, then add the oil in small portions, stirring until smooth.
- After that, remove the base from the heat and cool to 60 ° C, stir in the egg, making sure that it does not curl. Next, it remains only to stir in the flour. The smaller it is, the softer the dough will be.
An obligatory step in the preparation of this test is ripening in the refrigerator. A plastic bag with this gingerbread composition can be stored on a cool shelf for up to three weeks without loss of taste.
In conclusion, it is worth dwelling a little on what gives gingerbread a unique zest, which is called a "bouquet", "dry perfume" or simply "a mixture of spices for baking." Of course, you can buy a ready-made product, but it is better to cook it yourself by combining your favorite spices in a coffee grinder.
But it is worth remembering that although the amount of star anise is considered “asterisks”, only grains are used for “spirits”, and it is better to take only the upper part of the buds from cloves.
Making a beautiful, edible, fabulous house with your own hands is not easy enough, because for it you need not only to have culinary skills, but also the talent of a decorator. We will tell you all the secrets of making a gingerbread house.
This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.
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New Year's gingerbread house: a bit of history
How and who first prepared a delicious and beautiful treat? The answer to this question has been lost among historical vicissitudes. It is known that buildings made of dough were cult even in the times of Ancient Rome and were considered the dwellings of the gods. But after the holidays, they were treated in a completely modern way - they simply ate it with the whole family. as tasty and beautiful decoration on the New Year it was first prepared in Germany. Gingerbread houses became popular immediately after the release of an edifying and instructive tale about the adventures of two children - Hansel and Gretel. It was with a sweet house made of gingerbread, marzipan, candied fruit and candy that they were seduced by an evil sorceress, from whom the children still managed to escape.
The gingerbread house is not only fabulously beautiful, but also incredibly practical. Due to its composition, it is able to be stored for a long time, and remain as tasty as on the first day after preparation. Thus, the hostess can bake it for Christmas, and it served as a decoration for the house without any problems until the end of all the New Year holidays.
Shortly after the German confectioners began to prepare this unusual dessert, he became so popular that he took root overseas - in America. From now on, every hostess had her own recipe for a delicious decoration, and each believed that she had the best one. In truth, the basic recipe was quite simple - honey, flour, sugar and spices. It was the addition of the latter that was kept in the strictest confidence, because both the taste and the “durability” of the finished gingerbread depended on them.
The gingerbread house also gained fame in Russia - it was considered a sign of prosperity in the house and a guarantee of well-being in the coming year. Gingerbread in those days in our country were very popular and affordable for everyone, but the poor did not make houses from them - there was neither time nor hunting for painting gingerbread, and decorations such as candied fruit, chocolate or marmalade were too expensive.
Be that as it may, a gingerbread house is the best gift for a little boy or girl. Turn the preparation of this delicacy into a family celebration - bake and decorate it with the children. Memories of this will surely sweep through your whole life, and someday your children will cook it according to a proven "grandmother's" recipe along with your grandchildren.
Gingerbread house recipe step by step
How to make a gingerbread house This is a whole science, because it is very important not only to knead the dough correctly, but also to make the icing (a cream with which you can connect all parts of the house).
It is worth starting the preparation of the New Year's treat by kneading the dough. You will not find a single recipe for gingerbread - there are more than a hundred of them in the world and each of them has the right to be called the best. Mandatory ingredients are honey, flour, sugar, butter and spices. The peculiarity of this recipe is the minimum amount of liquid used, which makes the dough quite tight and dense. We will tell you how to cook the dough step by step a little later, and now we will consider another very important and necessary process - preparing a pattern. Cut out the details of the house from already ready dough very difficult, because the dough is honey-sand, which means it easily crumbles under the knife. Because of this, all the details need to be cut out even at the stage of rolling out the dough - so you will be sure that the prepared material will be enough for the “construction”.
You can easily find patterns for a gingerbread house on the Internet - the simplest and most affordable models are presented there. To make such a dessert, you will need two rectangular walls, two facades (one must be made with a carved doorway) and two rectangles for the roof. Their exact dimensions can be found on the World Wide Web or you can draw it yourself. But a one-story house is far from the ultimate dream, because beautiful two-story cottages, mills, and even castles for princesses are made from gingerbread. In general, with the help of gingerbread dough and your own imagination, you can cook a real masterpiece that will be the embodiment of your dreams.
The next step is also important. How to do protein cream to connect the house (icing)? It is made from eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Even a novice cook can cook it, so you can shift these pleasant chores to a child (of course, if he is not too small).
Assembling and painting a fabulous house is the most pleasant and exciting moment. It is better to do it with the whole family, because such moments are very close. Arrange small competitions, who will draw the window faster or who will let the roof down better. You can also record a joint master class for relatives and friends.
Gingerbread house dough: the most popular recipe
As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of gingerbread recipes, but we will consider the most popular of them - with honey and cinnamon.
To prepare the dough you will need:
- 125 g of liquid honey (if the honey is candied, it should be melted);
- 100 g of granulated sugar;
- 100 g butter (soft, but not liquid);
- 1 chilled chicken egg;
- 1 st. l sour cream (or half a teaspoon of soda);
- a pinch of salt;
- a pinch of cinnamon;
- a pinch of cardamom
With the same ingredients, you can also prepare ginger dough by adding a teaspoon of dry ground ginger to the batch.
Step by step preparation:
- In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt and spices;
- Beat the egg with a whisk, add honey and oil to it;
- Mix dry and wet ingredients, knead elastic dough. Properly kneaded dough does not float, although this largely depends on the quality of the selected flour and the amount of gluten in it. If yours turned out to be a little liquid, then add a little more flour and knead well;
- Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and send it to the refrigerator so that it “rests” properly. The optimal "rest" time is 2 hours;
- After this time, the workpiece should be pulled out and allowed to move a little warm;
- Divide the dough into several parts and shake thinly;
- Cut out the figures you need for the house. Do not throw away the scraps - they make wonderful gingerbread animals and men;
- The process of baking gingerbread does not last long - 20 minutes at 180 degrees. Make sure that the dough does not burn; if necessary, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees;
- The baked parts of the house should be cooled and only then proceed to assemble the dessert.
This dough recipe is the simplest and its preparation takes a minimum of time. If you're looking to experiment or discover something new, check out the old-fashioned gingerbread dough, which is made with custard and can stay fresh for months. This recipe in Russia was used by women, sending their husbands on a long journey or on a military campaign.
Gingerbread house frosting recipe
Since ancient times, caramel has been used to glue all the details of a gingerbread house. This viscous substance perfectly connects all the parts, but after hardening it becomes hard like caramel, which it is. That is why, over time, it was replaced by a light protein cream - icing. It is very simple to make it: beat 2 egg whites from chicken eggs from 1.5 st. powdered sugar and teaspoon lemon juice(add at the end of whipping) and the cream is ready. Next, move the mass into a pastry bag and you can begin to form a house, as well as its subsequent painting.
DIY gingerbread house: recipes without honey
As mentioned earlier, among the many desserts there are those for which honey is not so important. Here is the recipe for Christmas ginger house without honey. To prepare it you will need:
- 150 g flour;
- 60 g sugar;
- 2 tbsp. l melted butter;
- a quarter teaspoon of soda;
- a pinch of ginger and cinnamon;
- 1 st. l milk.
It is not difficult to knead such a dough - just mix all the ingredients, knead and let it stand under the film for half an hour. Please note that this amount of dough will only be enough for a small house measuring 15 by 20 cm. If you want a more monumental structure, double or triple the weight of the ingredients.
A gingerbread house with or without honey is a fairy tale made by hand. Do not miss the opportunity to cook this wonderful dessert that will not leave any little sweet tooth unattended.
