Cooking 101 - Treats: Gingerbread

Gingerbread recipes can add spice, edible decoration to holidays

The holiday season is a time for family, fun and food. One of the many joys of holiday cooking is the aroma of freshly baked gingerbread.

Gingerbread is traced all the way back to 2800 B.C., according to "The Wise Encylopedia" of cookery. Originally called "melitates," the ancient Greeks prepared gingerbread in cake form. By the 13th century, gingerbread also was molded into various shapes — men, birds, animals and letters of the alphabet.

Gingerbread has many variations — from fruit gingerbread, to Scotch gingerbread to nut gingerbread. These all are made with the same basic ingredients: shortening, sugar, egg, molasses, flour, soda, spices, hot water or fruit juice. Today, gingerbread most commonly is formed into tiny men or houses. They can be decorated with different candies to make them more aesthetically pleasing and tasty. Here are some recipes to spice up your holiday season.

Gingerbread House

(You also can use the dough to make
gingerbread men)

5 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups dark molasses
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Frosting, either store bought or homemade
Brightly colored candies such as gumdrops, licorice, peppermint sticks, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix five cups of flour, the ginger and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine shortening and sugar in separate large bowl with mixer. Add molasses and lightly beaten eggs. Blend well. Gradually add dry ingredients. Knead in remaining flour, if necessary. Chill dough one hour for best rolling results. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick directly onto cookie sheets. Cut patterns, removing excess dough.

Chill 10 minutes before baking. Bake for five to eight minutes. Let cookies cool. Next, to assemble the house, make a simple cardboard house to use as your base to help hold the house together. Begin applying cookies to the cardboard using your frosting as glue. Once cookies cover the entire house you can decorate with colorful candies such as gumdrops, peppermint sticks and licorice.

SOURCE: Walt Wanner, www.foodnetwork.com