Gingerbread: recipe with guaranteed success
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of wholemeal rye flour
- 300 grams of wholemeal spelled flour
- 400 grams of cane sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 12 tbsp honey
- 90 grams of butter
- 140 grams of finely chopped hazelnuts
- 1 organic lemon
- 100 grams of finely chopped raisins
- 20 grams of cocoa
- 20 grams of gingerbread spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon clove powder
- 20 grams of gingerbread spice (ready-made spice mixture)
- 100 grams of orange peel (finely chopped)
- 60 grams of lemon peel (finely chopped)
For painting:
Prepare gingerbread:
Warning: the dough must rest overnight!
- Put honey and sugar together in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly so that the mixture does not burn.
- Mix the two types of flour together with the spices, cane sugar, baking soda, baking cocoa, orange peel, lemon peel and raisins.
- Heat the butter so that it becomes soft and then stir into the flour mixture along with the sugar-honey mixture and the four eggs.
- Knead all ingredients well. You can do this with the kneading attachment on a hand mixer or with a food processor. If you knead with your hands, you need strength and perseverance, as the dough becomes very firm.
- Process the finished dough into a thick roll and place in a freezer bag. Chill overnight, preferably on the windowsill. The refrigerator is less suitable.
- The next day: Preheat the oven to 175 degrees (convection) and divide the dough into three parts, thicken each part thoroughly and then roll out. It should not be thicker than 5 mm.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out the desired shapes from the gingerbread dough (e.g. gingerbread man, gingerbread heart). Line the tray with baking paper and place the cut out cookies on it.
- Mix the egg yolk and milk together and brush the gingerbread cookies with them so that they shine nicely.
- Bake the gingerbread for 13 minutes and then leave to cool on the wire rack.
- Put in a biscuit tin or in a Tupperware tin and Let it sit for at least two daysbefore they are eaten. So they become nice and soft.
Tip: Gingerbreads taste better the longer they rest after baking. After 1-2 weeks in the can they are perfect.
Time is an important factor in any gingerbread recipe. In the past, the dough was prepared in October and the gingerbread was then baked in December. Why? We explain that to you here:
Gingerbread, gingerbread: one pastry, many names
Whether gingerbread or honey cake – it's all about the spices Gingerbread, gingerbread, life cake, honey cake: many names, one pastry.
The gingerbread is a real classic among Christmas treats. No wonder – the ancient Romans already knew recipes for gingerbread. The Tuscan variant Panforte still testifies to this today. Gingerbread has always been popular – mainly because of its long shelf life. And there are now thousands of different recipes for baking gingerbread or using it in desserts, for example. Gingerbread nuts, the gingerbread man, the gingerbread heart or the popular gingerbread house are just a few selected inspirations that you can bake with our recipes.
A gingerbread recipe for every occasion
Gingerbread used to be eaten at festivals like Easter. Today, gingerbread is primarily a Christmas cookie – even if it can often be bought in shops in August.
The British call gingerbread gingerbread (ginger bread), the French Pain d'épices (spice bread) – both indicate the oriental spices that give gingerbread its intense taste and are used in almost every gingerbread recipe. If you don't want to buy honey, cinnamon, cloves, anise, coriander, cardamom and ginger individually: There are also ready-mixed spices for gingerbread that can be used for most recipes.
Are you in the mood for gingerbread? In addition to the classic gingerbread recipe, we also have other ideas for gingerbread from the BRIGITTE kitchen.