Medieval Gingerbread
A candy-like version of gingerbread with a lot of ginger flavor
City/Region: England
Time Period: 14th Century
Medieval gingerbread was first only accessible to the very wealthy because of all the spices in it, but by the time our recipe was written in the 14th century, it was accessible to the average wealthy household. A lot of variations of spiced cakes, cookies, and confections cropped up all throughout Europe, like pierniki toruński from Poland and Lebkuchen from Nuremberg.
The version here is more of a candy, with an almost gummy texture. I used dried ginger pieces and ground them in a mortar and pestle, and a lot of that lovely ginger flavor comes through with a little heat at the end. There is a kind of grittiness to it that I don’t like, but overall it’s really nice.
“Take goode honye & clarefie it on the fere, & take fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into the boylenge hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse (spatula) that it bren not to the vessel. & thanne take it doun and put therin ginger, longe pepper & saunders, & tempere (mix) it up with thin handes; & than put them to a flatt boyste (pan) & straw (strew) thereon sugar & pick therin clowes rounde about by the egge (edge) and in the mydes yf it plece you &c. ”
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (330 g) honey
- 1/2 loaf (250 g) stale white bread, or breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon dried ginger pieces*
- 3/4 teaspoon long pepper*
- 1/2 teaspoon sandalwood*
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- Whole cloves, for decoration
- Gold leaf, for decoration, optional
*See notes below.
Instructions:
- Break the bread up into large crumbs with your hands, then use a mortar and pestle to grind them into fine breadcrumbs.
- Grind the dried ginger and long pepper.
- Heat the honey in a saucepan over medium heat until it boils. If you happen to be using unclarified honey (most you buy are already clarified), you might need to skim off anything that rises to the top.
- Add the breadcrumbs to the boiling honey a bit at a time, stirring until combined. You may need more or less breadcrumbs depending on what kind you’re using. You want the mixture to come away from the sides of the pot when you stir. If you happen to add too many breadcrumbs and the mixture is too dry, just add a bit more honey.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the spices. Taste a little bit (it’s hot!) and add more spices, if desired.
- Turn the mixture out onto some parchment paper and roll it out. The thickness is up to you, mine was about 1/4”. Let it firm up for at least a few hours, or overnight.
- Dust the top with however much sugar you want, then cut the gingerbread into whatever size and shapes you fancy. I did little squares, but you could use cookie cutters or something that uses a kind of stamp to imprint a design.
- Bedight them with the cloves (I stuck one in the center of each piece) and the gold leaf, if you’re using it, and serve them forth.
Notes
Long pepper is hotter than black pepper and has a more aromatic, almost flowery quality to it that's wonderful.
Powdered red sandalwood has a mild flavor and is mostly used to color food red.
- Link for long pepper: https://amzn.to/3ui5j5L
- Link for sandalwood: https://amzn.to/40I63x0
- Link for dried ginger pieces: https://amzn.to/3rdiHC3
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