One of the best aromas to come out of a kitchen has to be gingerbread, with its fragrant air of molasses and spices. Early forms of gingerbread were thought to made in ancient Egypt and Greece, and later made by Catholic monks. The form as we know it in our country was brought by Swiss monks to the St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana in 1854. Germany is known for its gingerbread, known as “Lebkuchen.” Remember the gingerbread house from “Hansel and Gretel?” In German it was called the “Hexenhaeusle” meaning “witches house” or “Lebkuchenhaeusle.”
The recipes in this wonderful cookbook cover every form of gingerbread baking, from cakes, cookies, breads, pancakes, gingerbread houses, puddings, ice cream, toffee, and more. My girls asked me if we could try the Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Pudding for Christmas. I would like to try the Gingerbread Pound Cake, along with some Gingerbread Ice Cream, so we’ll have to battle over that decision. Whatever we make, I’m sure it will be fabulous. Gingerbread does not have to be just for the holidays, but if you are looking for a new dessert to try this year, you can’t lose with any of the recipes in this cookbook.
My Culinary Cellar gingerbread house is not nearly as scary as the witches house in Hansel and Gretel!
I love gingerbread! It’s one of the best things about the holidays. I’ve never tried making a gingerbread house, although I love to look at them. And I didn’t know about the St. Meinrad connection. The abbey is about 40 miles from my house. It’s a beautiful place. Their gift shop sells wonderful cookies and breads. I’ve read that the St. Meinrad monks also introduced fruitcakes to the United States.
Interesting about the fruitcakes. I went to their website hoping they might have a cookbook, but couldn’t find one.
You’ll have to wait until next year. It’s the archabbey’s 150th anniversary, and they’re publishing a cookbook as part of the celebration.
http://stmeinrad150.org/cookbook.html
Correction. It’s the town of St. Meinrad’s anniversary cookbook, not the archabbey’s. A friend of mine used to teach there. I’ll see if he knows if they’ve ever published a cookbook.
I’ll look forward to reading about the cookbook when it’s published! Thanks for the info.