Fall hast started here - i live in the middle of the vineyards and i can hear the fake shotguns protecting the grapes while i sit here - they make a loud noise to scare the birds away.... They will harvest soon... The fields have been cut and the sugar beets are also next to the road in huge piles.... Oktoberfest is opening in Munich and so are many wine festivals arounf the countrysides in Germany. Usually around this time i start craving spiced baked goods like the gingerbread....
So i made some cookies last night and will make gingerbread cake next week. These cookies are very good i go thte recipe from TOB and it was Triainatlanta who suggested this recipe which is a King Arthur recipe Bakers Banter. Thanks very much Tria - this is a keeper!
Enjoy Alissa
History of the Gingerbread Man
Gingerbread recipes began with the monks, but gingerbread men weren't the first forms of gingerbread. What were? Gingerbread cakes in the form of religious symbols and saints.
After soldiers fought the crusades in the Middle East, travelers from the West brought back many exotic spices. Ginger was one of them. It was fairly expensive to use, so it was only available to those with money. The monks began experimenting with ginger in their recipes and crafted a type of cake to celebrate with. Their gingerbread cakes honored religious symbols and saints. They carved elaborate likenesses into wood and poured the dough into the wooden gingerbread molds to cook.
The upper class people started catching on with the notion of celebrating, but used their own forms. They made carvings out of wood to depict royalty, castles and flowers. Since ginger was still expensive, it wasn’t used by common folk nor was it available in the daily marketplace.
As time went by, traveling became easier and shipping methods improved. The price of ginger and other spices from the east dropped, which made them available to a whole lot more of the population. New gingerbread recipes were created and so were the uses for it.
It wasn't until the early 1800's that the actual Gingerbread men cookies were made. At first, they were balls of dough rolled together and shaped into figures. They were shaped as gingerbread men, women, royalty and children. They were decorated and enjoyed by everyone. Cookie cutters were created several years later, making the uniform shapes of gingerbread boys, pulled from the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Dark, rich, and an old-fashioned gingerbread cookie.
1 cup (8 ounces, 2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar*
1/2 cup (6 ounces) molasses OR 1/4 cup (3 ounces) molasses + 1/4 cup (2 3/4 ounces) ginger syrup**
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 ts ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Sugar, for coating; you’ll need about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (7 1/2 ounces) pearl sugar; a scant 1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) sparkling white (coarse) sugar; or about 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar.
*For added ginger flavor, combine 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar + 1/2 cup (3 ounces) crystallized ginger in a food processor, processing till the ginger is finely ground. Use this mixture in place of the 1 cup sugar.
**See recipe below.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they’re light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses (or molasses and ginger syrup), baking soda, salt, and spices. Add the eggs, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. Stir in the flour.
Scoop the soft dough into 1 ½" balls; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Roll them in granulated sugar, coarse sugar, or pearl sugar. Granulated sugar will disappear as the coookies bake, leaving merely the faintest crunch on the crust. Coarse sugar will add sparkle and mild crunch. Bright white pearl sugar will add contrast and a more assertive crunch.
Space the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 ½" between them. Bake them for 10 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy; that’s OK. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool thems on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
Yield: 45 cookies.
Variation: For a lighter-colored, more gingery cookie, use 1/2 cup ginger syrup in place of the 1/2 cup molasses. Increase the ground ginger to 1 1/4 teaspoons, and decrease the ground cloves to 1/2 teaspoon. Add 1 cup diced crystallized ginger to the dough at the same time you add the flour (don't process the ginger with the sugar, leave it in chunks). Bake the cookies for 11 minutes.
Ginger Syrup
Substitute sweet-hot ginger syrup for some of the molasses in any of your baking recipes. Or add to club soda to make your own ginger ale!
4 cups (about 13 ounces) fresh ginger root, unpeeled, cut into 1/8" to ¼" slices (a food processor makes short work of this task)
3 1/2 cups (24 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 1/2 cups (28 ounces) water
In a large, heavy saucepan, bring the ginger, sugar, and water to a boil. Boil the mixture for 45 to 60 minutes, until it registers 216°F to 220°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer. The lower temperature will give you a thinner syrup, one that’s easy to stir into drinks; the higher temperature will yield a thicker syrup, better for baking. You can’t tell how thick the syrup will be while it’s still hot; you have to go by its temperature, as it’ll thicken as it cools.
Remove the pan from the burner and carefully strain the syrup into a non-reactive container. Store in the refrigerator indefinitely.
Yield: about 2 1/4 cups syrup.
©2008 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Hallo
so langsam wird es richtig herbstlich hier... ich höre während ich hier sitze, schreibe und in die Weinberge schaue die Schüsse der Vogelabwehranlagen... Wir stehen kurz vor der Weinlese und in den umliegenden Dorfern reihen sich die Weinfeste aneinander... in München wird angezapft und das Oktoberfest nimmt seinen Lauf... Ich liebe den Herbst mit seine Fülle an Früchten und Gemüse und hier beginnt für mich die Zeit für Aroma, Düfte und eine kleiner Vorgeschmack auf Weihnachtsbäckereien... Gewürzkuchen oder Gingerbread Men = Gewürzkuchen Männlein.
Es ist kein reines Weihnachtsgebäck in den USA und Canada - dort wird es eigentlich das ganze Jahr verzehrt aber natürlich besonders ab Herbst bis Weihnachten. Ich mag es sehr gerne aber es darf nicht zu molassehaltig sein - das ist mir dann zu lakrizig und schwer. dieses Rezept ist schön ausgewogen und lecker würzig. Die Form des Gingerbread Manns hat eine alte Tradition die in Europa in unseren Klöstern und Abteien begann als Mönche Heiligenfiguren herstellten aus Gewürzkuchenteig.
Zu dem "Gingerbread Man" gib es ein ganz traditionells altes Märchen in Nordamerika - wie eine Fabel sehr schön... Es wird oft in Kindergärten erzählt, in Theateraufführungen verwendet und natürlich während des gemeinsamen Backes im Kindergarten vorgetragen...hier eine Zusammenfassung:
"Eine alte Frau bäckt für einen kleinen Jungen ein Lebkuchenmännchen und weist ihn darauf hin, dass er den Ofen nicht selbst öffnen dürfe, wenn das Gebäck anfinge zu duften. Nach einiger Zeit jedoch steigt der Duft dem Jungen so in die Nase, dass er unbedingt sehen will, ob es so gut aussieht wie es riecht. Flugs springt das Lebkuchenmännchen aus dem Ofen, läuft dem Jungen, den alten Leuten, Bauern, einem Bären und einem Wolf davon. Erst der schlaue Fuchs schafft es, das dreiste Lebkuchenmännchen zu überlisten, indem er es bittet, immer näher zu kommen, da er sonst seine Erzählungen nicht hören könne. Im günstigen Augenblick schnappt er zu und verspeist das Lebekuchenmännchen genüsslich. "
Ich wünsche Euch viel Spaß mit dem Gebäck!
Alissa
Gewürzmännlein Gebäck
200 g Butter
1 Tasse Zucker
120 ml Molasse oder Rübensirup
2 1/2 TL Natron
1 TL Salz
1 1/4 TL Zimt
1 1/4 TL gemahlene Nelken
1 TL gemahlenen Ingwer
400 g Mehl
1 handvoll feingehackte kandierter Ingwer
Die Butter mit dem Zucker und der Molasse schaumig schlagen. Die Gewürze und Natron untermischen und anschließend das Salz und das Mehl langsam untermischen bis in der Rührschüssel lauter Streusel entstanden sind. Nun eine schönen glatten Teig kneten. Diesen 20 Min im Kühlschrank ruhen lassen. Den Backofen auf 160°C vorheizen. Den Teig zwischen zwei Bahnen Frischhaltefolie oder einem aufgeschnittenem Gefrierbeutel ausrollen etwa 3 cm dick und Figuren ausstechen oder wer einfach Gebäck haben möchte kleine Bällchen formen und diese backen. Auf ein mit Backpapier ausgelegtes Backblech legen und etwa 10-15 Min backen.
Auskühlen lassen und wer mag noch mit Zuckerguss dekorieren.
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