Gingerbread house

2025-10-24T12:24:00Z

2601:84:8A00:4AE0:F7A:83A2:4CA9:235B: /* History of gingerbread shaping */

{{short description|Model house made of gingerbread}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{About||the architectural style|Gingerbread house (architecture)|the house in Savannah, Georgia|The Gingerbread House}}
[[File:Gingerbread house with gumdrops.jpg|thumb|A typical store-bought gingerbread house]]

A '''gingerbread house''' is a novelty [[confectionery]] shaped like a [[building]] that is made of cookie dough, cut and baked into appropriate components like [[wall]]s and [[roof]]ing. The usual base material is crisp [[gingerbread]], hence the name. Another type of model-making with gingerbread uses a boiled dough that can be [[moulding (process)|moulded]] like [[clay]] to form edible statuettes or other decorations. These houses, covered with a variety of [[candy|candies]] and [[icing (food)|icing]], are popular [[Christmas]] decorations.

==History==
[[File:Stoitzner (attrib) Kirchweih.jpg|thumbnail|left|254px|Painting depicting gingerbread sold at the [[fair]]]]
Records of honey cakes can be traced to [[ancient Rome]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |title=Gingerbread |url=http://www.enotes.com/topics/gingerbread |publisher=enotes.com |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212065712/http://www.enotes.com/topics/gingerbread |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> Food historians ratify that ginger has been seasoning foodstuffs and drinks since antiquity. It is believed gingerbread was first baked in Europe at the end of the 11th century, when returning [[crusaders]] brought back the custom of spicy bread from the [[Middle East]].<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |last=Olver |first=Lynne |author-link=Lynne Olver |title=Traditional Christmas foods |url=http://www.cttg.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Traditional%20Christmas%20Foods.pdf |work=[[The Food Timeline]] |via=City of Tea Tree Gully |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213060304/http://www.cttg.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Traditional%20Christmas%20Foods.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> Ginger was not only tasty, it had properties that helped preserve the bread.
According to the French legend, gingerbread was brought to Europe in 992 by the [[Armenians|Armenian]] monk, later saint, Gregory of Nicopolis (Gregory Makar). He lived for seven years in [[Bondaroy]], France, near the town of [[Pithiviers]], where he taught gingerbread cooking to priests and other Christians. He died in 999.<ref>{{citation |url=http://loiret.logishotels.com/notre-gastronomie/confreries-gastronomiques/confrerie-du-pain-depices.html |title=La Confrérie du Pain d'Epices |access-date=15 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215045710/http://loiret.logishotels.com/notre-gastronomie/confreries-gastronomiques/confrerie-du-pain-depices.html |archive-date=15 December 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="AutoFB-3">{{citation |url=http://morricone.cn/englishweb/engmaster/engmaster-011a.htm |title=Le Pithiviers |access-date=15 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212103448/http://morricone.cn/englishweb/engmaster/engmaster-011a.htm |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.monastere-saintgregoire.net/fr/histoire/presentation-du-monastere.htm |title=Monastère orthodoxe des Saints Grégoire Armeanul et Martin le Seul |access-date=15 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110224346/http://www.monastere-saintgregoire.net/fr/histoire/presentation-du-monastere.htm |archive-date=10 January 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>

Gingerbread, as we know it today, descends from Medieval European culinary traditions. Gingerbread was also shaped into different forms by monks in [[Franconia]], Germany in the 13th century. ''[[Lebkuchen]]'' bakers are recorded as early as 1296 in [[Ulm]] and 1395 in [[Nuremberg]], [[Germany]]. Nuremberg was recognized as the "Gingerbread Capital of the World" when in the 17th century the guild started to employ master bakers and skilled workers to create complicated works of art from gingerbread.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Medieval bakers used carved boards to create elaborate designs. During the 13th century, the custom spread across Europe. It was taken to Sweden in the 13th century by German immigrants; there are references from [[Vadstena Abbey]] of Swedish [[nun]]s baking gingerbread to ease indigestion in 1444.<ref>{{cite web |title= History and tradition |url= http://annas.se/?kollumsidor=history-tradition&lang=en |publisher= Annas Pepparkakor |access-date= 10 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131214152754/http://annas.se/?kollumsidor=history-tradition&lang=en |archive-date= 14 December 2013 |url-status= dead |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pepparkakan och dess historia |url=http://www.danskan.se/historia/pepparkakans-historia |publisher=Danska Wienerbageriet |access-date=10 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902062542/http://danskan.se/historia/pepparkakans-historia |archive-date=2 September 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> The traditional sweetener is honey, used by the guild in Nuremberg. Spices used are [[ginger]], [[cinnamon]], [[cloves]], [[nutmeg]] and [[cardamom]].
Gingerbread [[figurine]]s date back to the 15th century, and figural biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles |last=Campbell Franklin |first= Linda |edition=4th |location=Iowa, Wisconsin |publisher= Krause |year=1997 |page=183 |isbn= 9780896891128 }}</ref> The first documented instance of [[Gingerbread man|figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits]] is from the court of [[Elizabeth I of England]]: she had gingerbread figures made in the likeness of some of her important guests.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web |url= http://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Gingerbread-Men.html |title=A History of Gingerbread Men |publisher= Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses |access-date= 13 November 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090913203533/http://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Gingerbread-Men.html |archive-date=13 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History of gingerbread shaping==
[[File:Samobor Licitar.jpg|thumb|Decorated gingerbread hearts with mirrors, [[hussar]]s, and market souvenirs in [[Croatia]]]]
[[File:MMŽbk-Staročeský vytlačovaný perník.jpg|thumb|A gingerbread print horse]]
The gingerbread bakers were gathered into professional baker guilds. In many European countries, gingerbread bakers were a distinct component of the bakers' guild. Gingerbread baking developed into an acknowledged profession. In the 17th century, only professional gingerbread bakers were permitted to bake gingerbread except at Christmas and Easter, when anyone was allowed to bake it.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

In Europe, gingerbreads were sold in special shops and at seasonal markets that sold sweets and gingerbread shaped as hearts, stars, soldiers, babies, riders, trumpets, swords, pistols and animals.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Gingerbread was especially sold outside churches on Sundays. Religious gingerbread reliefs were purchased for the particular religious events, such as Christmas and Easter. The decorated gingerbreads were given as presents to adults and children, or given as a love token, and bought particularly for weddings, where gingerbreads were distributed to the wedding guests.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> A gingerbread relief of the patron saint was frequently given as a gift on a person's [[name day]], the day of the saint associated with his or her given name.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> It was the custom to bake biscuits and paint them as window decorations. The most intricate gingerbreads were also embellished with iced patterns, often using colours and also gilded with [[gold leaf]].<ref name=autogenerated1b>{{Cite web |url=http://www.enotes.com/topics/gingerbread#sthash.6zGLP274.dpuf |title=Gingerbread (more) |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212065712/http://www.enotes.com/topics/gingerbread#sthash.6zGLP274.dpuf |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Gingerbread was also worn as a talisman in battle or as protection against evil spirits.<ref name="AutoFB-3"/>

Gingerbread was a significant form of popular art in Europe;<ref name=autogenerated1 /> major centers of gingerbread mould carvings included [[Lyon]], Nuremberg, [[Pest (city)|Pest]], Prague, [[Pardubice]], [[Pulsnitz]], Ulm and [[Toruń]]. Gingerbread moulds often displayed actual happenings, by portraying new rulers and their consorts, for example. Substantial mould collections are held at the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń, [[Poland]] and the Bread Museum in Ulm, Germany. During the winter months, medieval gingerbread pastries, usually dipped in wine or other alcoholic beverages, were consumed. In America, the German-speaking communities of Pennsylvania and Maryland continued this tradition until the early 20th century.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> The tradition survived in colonial North America, where the pastries were baked as [[ginger snap]] cookies and gained favour as Christmas tree decorations.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

The tradition of making decorated gingerbread houses started in Germany in the early 1800s. According to certain researchers, the first gingerbread houses were the result of the well-known [[Brothers Grimm|Grimm]]'s fairy tale "[[Hansel and Gretel]]"<ref name=autogenerated2 /> in which the two children abandoned in the forest found an edible house made of bread with sugar decorations. After this book was published, German bakers began baking ornamented fairy-tale houses of [[lebkuchen]] (gingerbread). These became popular during Christmas, a tradition that came to America with Pennsylvanian German immigrants.<ref>"Holiday Tradition with Spicy History". ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. 9 December 2001 (p. N-9).</ref> According to other food historians, the Grimm brothers were speaking about something that already existed.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

==Modern times==
[[File:Magasin de pains d'épices-Strasbourg.JPG|thumb|upright|Gingerbread shop in [[Strasbourg]]]]
[[File:Putting glaze on gingerbread house for candy decorations.jpg|thumb|Swedish gingerbread house being prepared. Glaze is put on the walls.]]
[[File:Replica of the White House made of gingerbread and white chocolate.jpg|thumb|Replica of the [[White House]] made of gingerbread and white chocolate]]
{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage =[[File:Holidays at the white house - building the 2013 gingerbread white house 1.webmhd.webm|188px]] | video1 =[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/share/gingerbread-white-house MP.4 version] 1:49, Building the [[White House]] gingerbread house, 2013}}
In modern times, the tradition has continued in certain places in Europe. In Germany, Christmas markets sell decorated gingerbread before Christmas. (''Lebkuchenhaus'' or ''Pfefferkuchenhaus'' are the German terms for a gingerbread house.) Making gingerbread houses is a Christmas tradition in many families. They are typically made before Christmas using pieces of baked gingerbread dough assembled with melted sugar. The roof 'tiles' can consist of frosting or candy. The gingerbread house yard is usually decorated with icing to represent snow.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brones |first=Anna |title=The Magic of Swedish Gingerbread Cookies |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-brones/gingerbread-cookies-recipe_b_1137546.html |publisher=Huffington Post |access-date=14 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219172729/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-brones/gingerbread-cookies-recipe_b_1137546.html |archive-date=19 December 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>

A gingerbread house does not have to be an actual house, although it is the most common. It can be anything from a castle to a small cabin, or another kind of building, such as a church, an art museum,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/03/gingerbread-architecture-photos_n_4375744.html |title=Gingerbread Architecture Makes Normal Gingerbread Houses Look Pathetic |publisher=Huffington Post |date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> or a sports stadium,<ref name=town/> and other items, such as cars, [[Gingerbread man|gingerbread men]] and gingerbread women, can be made of gingerbread dough.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coop.se/Global/Recept%20och%20mat/Mat%20f%C3%B6r%20alla%20tillf%C3%A4llen/Helger/Jul/pdf/Pepparkakshus_alla.pdf |title=Gingerbread model houses COOP |access-date=8 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216061553/http://www.coop.se/Global/Recept%20och%20mat/Mat%20f%C3%B6r%20alla%20tillf%C3%A4llen/Helger/Jul/pdf/Pepparkakshus_alla.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In most cases, [[royal icing]] is used as an adhesive to secure the main parts of the house, as it can be made quickly and forms a secure bond when set.

In Sweden, gingerbread houses are prepared on [[Saint Lucy's Day]].{{cn|date=December 2017}} Since 1991, the people of [[Bergen]], Norway, have built a city of gingerbread houses each year before Christmas. Named ''Pepperkakebyen'' (Norwegian for "the gingerbread village"), it is claimed to be the world's largest such city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitbergen.no/10-pepperkakebyen.htm |title=Pepperkakebyen i Bergen |language=no, en |access-date=23 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212133647/http://www.visitbergen.no/10-pepperkakebyen.htm |archive-date=12 December 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref> Every child under the age of 12 can make their own house at no cost with the help of their parents. In 2009, the gingerbread city was destroyed in an act of vandalism.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.norwaypost.no/culture/bergen-s-gingerbread-city-vandalized.html |title=Bergen's "Gingerbread City" vandalized |newspaper=The Norway Post |author=Rolleiv Solholm |date=23 November 2009 |access-date=23 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222033512/http://norwaypost.no/culture/bergen-s-gingerbread-city-vandalized.html|archive-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A group of building design, construction, and sales professionals in Washington, D.C., also collaborate on a themed "Gingertown" every year.<ref name=town>{{cite news |last=Basch |first=Michelle |url=http://www.wtop.com/41/3518628/Gingertown-brings-modern-twist-to-gingerbread-houses |title='Gingertown' brings modern twist to gingerbread houses |publisher=[[WTOP-FM]] |date=5 December 2013 }}</ref>

In the United States, the [[National Gingerbread House Competition]] began in 1992 at the [[The Omni Grove Park Inn|Grove Park Inn]] in [[Asheville, North Carolina]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The 32nd Annual National Gingerbread House Competition |url=https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/things-to-do/national-gingerbread-competition |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Omni Grove Park Inn}}</ref> In San Francisco, the [[Fairmont San Francisco|Fairmont]] and [[Westin St. Francis|St. Francis]] hotels display rival gingerbread houses during the Christmas season.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rubenstein |first=Steve |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/The-great-San-Francisco-gingerbread-war-commences-5029167.php |title=The great San Francisco gingerbread war commences |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=3 December 2013 }}</ref>

==Guinness World records==
[[File:LA2 Milda pepparkakshus 2009 framsida.jpg|thumb|A full-scale gingerbread house as a Christmas decoration in [[Stockholm]], 2009 (It was made of {{cvt|294|kg}} flour, {{cvt|92|kg}} margarine, {{cvt|100.4|kg}} sugar, {{cvt|66.3|L}} Golden syrup, {{cvt|2.2|kg}} each of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and {{cvt|3.7|kg}} baking powder.<ref>{{cite sign |title= List and amount of ingredients used |url= https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LA2_Milda_pepparkakshus_2009_baksida.jpg |year=2009 |location= Stockholm |type=sign at rear of gingerbread house}}</ref>)]]
In 2013, a group in [[Bryan, Texas]], US, broke the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Record]] set the previous year for the largest gingerbread house, with a {{convert|2520|sqft|m2|adj=on}} edible-walled house in aid of a hospital trauma centre.<ref name="Reuters" /> The gingerbread house had an estimated calorific value exceeding 35.8 million and ingredients included {{convert|2925|lb|kg}} of brown sugar, {{convert|1800|lb|kg}} of butter, 7,200 eggs and {{convert|7200|lb|kg}} of general purpose flour.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-christmas-gingerbread-idUSBRE9B50YQ20131206 | title=With nearly a ton of butter, Texas gingerbread house sets record | publisher=Texas A &M University / Reuters | date=6 December 2013 | last=Herskovitz | first=Jon}}</ref>

The executive sous-chef at the [[New York Marriott Marquis]] hotel, Jon Lovitch, broke the record for the largest gingerbread village with 135 residential and 22 commercial buildings, and cable cars and a train also made of gingerbread.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldrecordacademy.com/food/largest_gingerbread_village_Chef_Jon_Lovitch_breaks_Guinness_World_Records_record_213628.html |title=Largest gingerbread village: Chef Jon Lovitch breaks Guinness World Records' record |publisher=World Record Academy |date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> It was displayed at the New York Hall of Science. Another contender from Bergen, Norway made a gingerbread town called ''Pepperkakebyen.''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=Antonia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/dec/22/a-brief-history-of-the-gingerbread-house|title=A brief history of the gingerbread house|date=2018-12-22|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="133px" caption="Gingerbread houses">
File:La maison en pain d'épices.jpg|Gingerbread house with candy
Image:Gingerbread house with clock.jpg|A gingerbread house with clock and candy decorations
File:Gingerbread House 2025.jpg|Christmas gingerbread house kit
File:Gingerbread house with double doors.jpg|Gingerbread house with double doors
Image:Gingerbread house with steps and trees.jpg|Gingerbread house with steps and trees
File:Gingerbread house with path.jpg|Gingerbread house with path
File:Gingerbread house with lighting.jpg|Gingerbread house with lighting
File:Gingerbread house decorated with candy.jpg|Gingerbread house with snowman
File:Gingerbread boat.jpg|Gingerbread ship
File:Mézeskalács ház - Buda, 2014.12.26 (1).JPG| Gingerbread house as a Christmas Eve decoration
File:Gingerbread houses at Dundee Gardens.jpg| Gingerbread houses with [[Christmas tree]]
File:Hyatt Regency Reston gingerbread village with model trains (2).jpg|Gingerbread village with model trains
File:Gingerbread House Christmas 2016 Starbucks Grosvenor House London United Kingdom.jpg|Gingerbread house and Elizabeth Tower in London, United Kingdom
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Gingerbread man]]
*[[Lebkuchen]]
*[[Aachener Printen]]

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* Weaver, William Woys – The Christmas Cook, Three Centuries of American Yuletide Sweets.
* [[Eliza Leslie]] Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book – The Original Classic Edition [https://books.google.com/books?id=HxrpdZkAY5AC&dq=Miss+Leslie%27s+New+Cookery+Book%2C&pg=PT9 Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book, online]

==External links==
{{Commons category}} {{Cookbook}}
*[https://www.royal.uk/royal-chefs-gingerbread-house The Royal Chefs' Gingerbread House]

{{Cakes}}
{{Christmas}}
[[Category:Christmas food]]
[[Category:Cakes]]
[[Category:Biscuits]]
[[Category:Food and drink decorations]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Ginger desserts]]
[[Category:Food for children]]

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