Gingerbread dough

The first gingerbread dough products appeared in ancient Egypt. In one of the Egyptian tombs, baking products from honey were discovered. Also, during archaeological excavations in Italy, clay forms were found for the manufacture of honey products - honey lozenges.

Gingerbread dough products gradually spread throughout Europe. They became popular among the Germanic tribes, then among the western and eastern Slavs. Since the 18th century, gingerbread products appeared in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

With the discovery of spices, they began to be added to gingerbread dough, and the products themselves began to be called "gingerbread" ^[1] .

The basis of gingerbread dough is flour and honey. Often eggs, butter, sugar and spices are added to the dough, sometimes raisins, candied fruits or nuts. Sugar is sometimes used instead of honey, but more often it is replaced with sugar syrups.

Gingerbread dough is made in two ways: raw and custard. When preparing the dough in a raw (or conventional) way, sugar syrup is first heated and the butter is melted, then honey and other ingredients are added to them. The raw method is used in the production of most gingerbread products (for example, Tula gingerbread ).

The custard method is more ancient. With its help, you can make the so-called custard gingerbread. Flour is poured into hot syrup, and then the resulting dough is stored in a cold room for about 3-4 weeks. Before baking, the remaining ingredients and pastries are added to the dough. To date, this method of cooking gingerbread dough is not used in an industrial environment.