Gingerbread Fudge Recipe - A New Christmas Classic (2024)

FAQs

When did gingerbread become associated with Christmas? ›

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel.

Elizabeth I of England surprised guests with “biscuits” that were designed in their likeness. Its association with the holiday season, which didn't come until later, is likely a practical one: Some people attribute the tradition to the weather, as ginger has a comforting way of warming the person who is eating it.

Legend traces gingerbread men back to Queen Elizabeth I, who supposedly had her cooks mold the pastry into the shapes of her favorite courtiers and liked to give VIP guests ginger "biscuits" that were edible caricatures.

Make Ahead – You can make fudge weeks ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer. I like to make a big batch and include it on plates of goodies to friends and neighbors.

The reason why gingerbread houses are synonymous with Christmas has to do with gingersnap cookies and how it was a highly popular tradition to bake a large assortment of ginger during the holidays. This was when gingerbread houses became a common practice with Christmas.

According to Epicure & Culture, gingerbread was sacred, and the only time it was allowed to be made by the general public was during Christmas and Easter. So, that's probably why it's seen as a Christmas delicacy. It's all in the timing. And once an association builds, it's just hard to shake.

Long before it became a holiday treat, gingerbread was a royal favorite, a token of fertility, and a tool for witches to exact their vengeance. The pudgy gingerbread man with his candy eyes and icing smile has a sinister backstory—a link to death and the demonic.

Gingerbread makes the perfect year round gift

They certainly make a lovely edible gift for family and friends as they can be decorated so individually and beautifully with icing, sweets and ribbons making them almost too good to eat.

​Superstitions about gingerbread flourished in the 17th century. Witches supposedly made gingerbread figures, ate them, and thereby caused the death of their enemies. Dutch magistrates went so far as to declare baking or eating molded cookies illegal.

What was the first Christmas cookie? ›

History. Modern Christmas cookies can trace their history to recipes from Medieval Europe biscuits, when many modern ingredients such as cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds and dried fruit were introduced into the west.

Gingerbread houses originated in Germany during the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition.

Fudge is best stored at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks wrapped up in its original wax paper. NEVER REFRIGERATE your fudge as this will draw out the moisture and leave you with dry, crumbly fudge.

So to recap, it's best to store proper fudge at room temperature. Keeping it in the fridge takes out all its moisture, drying it out. Homemade fudge is best in the fridge. No matter where you store it, the goal is to protect the fudge from exposure to the elements so airtight containers are best!

It gained fame in the realm and abroad when it was brought to Sweden by German immigrants. In 15th-century Germany, a gingerbread guild controlled production. Early references from the Vadstena Abbey show that the Swedish nuns baked gingerbread to ease indigestion in 1444.

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.

After a slow-ish start, gingerbread house-making soon became tied to Christmas in North America — likely thanks to the original German decorative style that was already reminiscent of the holiday, according to Food Network.

They became increasingly popular when the Brothers Grimm wrote Hansel and Gretel, where the story line is based around the main characters stumbling upon a house made entirely of treats in the middle of the forest. It is still not clear whether gingerbread houses originated as a result of this fairy-tale or vice versa.