آموزش پخت (طرز تهیه) بیسکویت زنجبیلی (Gingerbread) معروف و خوشمزه

Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg or cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a soft, moist loaf cake to something close to a ginger snap.

Etymology

Originally, the term gingerbread (from Latin zingiber via Old French gingebras) referred to preserved ginger. It then referred to a confection made with honey and spices. Gingerbread is often used to translate the French term pain d"épices (literally "spice bread") or the German terms Pfefferkuchen (lit. "pepper cake") or Lebkuchen (of unclear etymology).

History

Gingerbread is claimed to have been brought to Europe in 992 CE by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis (also called Gregory Makar and Grégoire de Nicopolis). He left Nicopolis (in modern-day western Greece) to live in Bondaroy (north-central France), near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years and taught gingerbread baking to French Christians. He died in 999.

In the 13th century, gingerbread 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. It was the custom to bake white biscuits and paint them as window decorations.

The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 17th century, where they were sold in monasteries, pharmacies, and town square farmers" markets. In Medieval England gingerbread was thought to have medicinal properties. One hundred years later, the town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, England became known for its gingerbread, as is proudly displayed on their town"s welcome sign, stating that it is the "home of gingerbread", twinned with Pézenas and Arlon. The first recorded mention of gingerbread being baked in the town dates to 1793, although it was probably made earlier, as ginger had been stocked in high street businesses since the 1640s. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century.

Gingerbread came to the Americas with settlers from Europe. Molasses, which was less expensive than sugar, soon became a common ingredient and produced a softer cake. The first American cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons published in 1796, contained seven different recipes for gingerbread.

This recipe produces gingerbread, not gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread is a type of spice cake. Parkin, a variation listed at the bottom, is partially oat-based.

Ingredients

4 oz butter
4 oz (110g) brown sugar
8 oz (220g) golden syrup
8 oz (220g) all-purpose flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 level teaspoon mixed spice
2 level teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs
4 fluid oz (120ml) milk

Procedure

Put the butter, sugar, and syrup in a pan. Heat gently until the butter melts.
Place the dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl, and beat thoroughly.
Warm the milk in a pan (so it will dissolve the syrup).
Add the milk to the bowl, and beat thoroughly.
Beat the eggs, and then stir them in to the mixture.
Pour the mixture into an 8-inch (20cm) greased square cake tin.
Cook at 170°C (325°F) for one hour.
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove.

Leave at least 1 day before cutting into squares.

Notes, tips, and variations

Variant: Parkin

Instead of 8 oz (220g) (flour, use 4 oz flour (110g) and 4 oz (110g) medium oatmeal (likely meaning coarse oat flour, not rolled oats).
Parkin is traditionally eaten in England around Bonfire Night.