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Christmas gingerbread recipe – traditional dessert for the Christmas and New Year’s.
Tradition of baking, decorating and giving to one another fragrant cookies is well-spread in European countries. You’re certainly gonna find a cabin with these baking goods at every Christmas market all over Europe. Variety of forms and sophisticated décor strikes your imagination!
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But it’s very easy to cook this treat by yourself. And what is important is that the process of cooking is a unique process of creation, in which the whole family can be included!
There are a lot of recipes for cooking ginger cakes. But I approach all the recipes creatively, and always alter them towards my preferences. Last time I used this recipe:
Honey – 250 grams
Sugar – 250 grams
Butter – 150 grams.
1 egg
Baking powder – 1 tea spoon
Spices: cardamom, carnation, anise, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger – everything 1 tea spoon
Zest of one orange and one lemon
Cacao powder – 3 tablespoons
Flour – approximately 650 grams
You don’t have to all the spices, but create your own favorite combinations. For example, I didn’t add dry ground ginger root, but added 2 tablespoons of the grated fresh ginger root’s juice; I replaced cacao powder with chocolate balls, and 3 tablespoons of cognac with 1 tablespoon of “Becherovka”.
Honey, sugar and butter are mixed in a bowl and warmed on the bain-marie till sugar dissolves (I added chocolate balls here too). The half of flour is mixed and sifted with spices and baking powder. Into the cooled butter-honey mixture we add an egg, zest and cognac – properly mix and then add flour. You can add a half with spices at once.
The remaining part is to be added in small batches, trying that the dough became soft and elastic and came together in a ball. A lot of flour can make the dough tight and it’ll be difficult to roll it then, so it’s better to add less flour. Then the dough is properly mixed, and covered in film sent to the fridge for at least 30 minutes. But it’s OK if more.
The prepared dough is divided into 4 parts. One is taken to work with, other three is left in the fridge.On the parchment paper we roll the dough to about 3-5 mm thick and carve cookies. Then we bake them on the oven-tray covered with parchment paper. Straight after the baking cooking is soft, but after cooling becomes fragile.
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At this technological process is exhausted, but creative is not. You can make cakes of all forms – little people, Christmas trees, animals, fish, birds etc. It depends on which forms you have.
I didn’t have any. So I sufficed with two glasses of different diameters and a drinking straw. Helping myself with these simple tools I managed to make buttons. And I carved teabags just with knife.
Traditionally cookies are decorated with icing: glaze on the base of sugar powder and egg yolk. Probably you won’t produce masterpieces at once, but the process is exciting! Especially it attracts children, because it’s so amazing to paint with something you can eat. You can place edible décor on yet not frozen icing – beads and stars.
When everything’s dried up – the treat is ready! You can put it in a box and carry them to friends’ houses or you can hang them on a Christmas tree!
And maybe somebody will build a cake-house with chocolate roof and settle Hansel and Gretel there? Everything’s possible, because New Year’s time is a period of miracles!
That became our kind tradition. Last year we shooted on video this ginger action.
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