Festive Flavors: 19th Century Gingerbread

Quick note: yes, there is a recipe in this post and if you want to skip straight to it, go right ahead.

Baking and the holiday season go hand in hand and while everyone has their own baking traditions, there are a few that crop up frequently as Christmas staples.  One such confection is gingerbread.

The crisp, sturdy cookie we use today in making gingerbread figures and houses got its start in western Europe around the 15th century. These treats could be highly decorated with icing and even gold leaf, depicting people, animals, flowers, and more. When Europeans colonized the Americas, gingerbread went along for the ride. The plantations of the West Indies---and the labor of the enslaved people held there---became an optimal source of both ginger, which flourished in the warm climate, and molasses and treacle, which are produced as part of cane sugar processing. Recipes that had previously sweetened gingerbread with sugar or honey quickly adopted these alternatives; not only were they cheap, the caramel or burnt sugar undertones lend a bittersweet flavor that pairs well with the fiery sharpness of ginger. Even now, it is common for contemporary gingerbread recipes to be sweetened with treacle or molasses.

This easy access to molasses is one possible reason why softer varieties of gingerbread quickly became common on this side of the Atlantic. Here, versions that were more cake- or bread-like than their European ancestors gained popularity, though both options were still common. One 19th century cookbook, The Appledore Cook Book by Maria Parloa, lists no fewer than six different recipes for gingerbread and ginger cookies and, of course, we had to give one a try.

We opted for "Soft Molasses Gingerbread, No. 2", and the recipe as written seems simple enough:

One cup of molasses, one teaspoonful of saleratus [baking soda], one of ginger, one tablespoonful of butter or lard, a pinch of salt, if you use lard. Stir this together, and then pour on one half a cup of boiling water, one pint of flour. Bake about one inch deep in a sheet. This is very nice if pains are taken to have the water boiling and to beat it well when the flour is added.

But that simplicity is enough to make many a modern home baker (read: us) break out in hives. Dry ginger or fresh? Grated or powdered? Bake at what temperature? For how long? And why is the flour measured in pints?! Obviously there are going to be some unique challenges to cooking from recipes designed when ovens were wood fired and before widespread indoor plumbing, and our areas of expertise, while many and varied, do not quite extend to historical baking.

But we persevered. It probably helps that this book was specifically geared toward "the young housekeeper" and thus intended to be, if not foolproof, at least idiot-resistant. The recipe and process we used for our gingerbread is as follows:

1 cup dark molasses

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)

1 tsp powdered ginger

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup water (boiling)

2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350° (175° C) and thoroughly grease a 6 to 8 inch cake tin.

By hand or in a stand mixer, thoroughly combine molasses, baking soda, butter, ginger, and salt. Add in boiling water and mix just until combined, then add flour and mix thoroughly. Pour into cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack, then turn out of the baking dish onto a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar, cut, and serve.

Our verdict? Surprisingly easy and very good! Ours may have been slightly overdone, but the fruity, caramel-like flavor didn't suffer, and we love a forgiving recipe. It's dense, moist, springy, and sweet without being cloying. Our team agreed that the ginger flavor was secondary to the molasses and, to our modern palates, it could maybe use some additional spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, but even exactly as is, it feels like something special and festive. Worth a try if you'd like to add something new--er, old--to your holiday baking lineup.

For a deeper dive into the lengthy history of gingerbread, check out Tory Avey's piece for PBS or Dr Kaori O’Connor's exploration of the topic for the Horniman Museum and Gardens, UK.