Gingerbread of the Middle Ages

A Link with medieval recipes>. http://www.godecookery.com/nboke/neweboke.htm

Early dolls were often edible, and gingerbread dolls and houses are no exception. They are wildly popular even today, and Thomas Hardy wrote about gingerbread cathedrals in Jude the Obscure. Here is some history with some pictures.

Recipes:

Take a quarter of a pound of Almonds blanched, put them into a morter, put to them a quarter of a pound of sugar beaten, and halfe a score of dates cut small, beate all these together untill they be as small as for Marchpain, put thereto an ounce of cinamon, an ounce of ginger searced and a little sanders. beate all these together one houre after you make little cakes of it, and lay them upon your mould to print, and cast of the powder of cinamon and ginger between the mould and it so it doo not cleave, dry them before the fire till they be hard, and so lay them up in boxes and they will keep all the year.

From Lady Barbara Fleming's Manuscript Receipt Book (1673)

To make another kind of gingerbread
Take a quart of honey, put it into a great skillet on the fire and when it begineth to seeth, put thereto a pint of strong ale, & scum it clear, then put soo much grated bread as will make it like unto dow and put thereto halfe a pound of Liquorish, as much Aniseeds, and a quarter of a pound of ginger being finely searced with two ounces of graines, then take it out of your skillet and worke it on a table as you doo flower to dough to make it stiffe, then make it in cakes, put powder of Liquorish and Aniseeds upon your moulds so it cleave not and so lay them upon a board till they be dry, then lay them up in boxes.

From Lady Barbara Fleming's Manuscript Receipt Book (1673)

Note, there are also recipes on line and books of Laura Ingalls Wilder's recipe. These recipes are from the Historic Food Blog.

Take a quarter of a pound of Almonds blanched, put them into a morter, put to them a quarter of a pound of sugar beaten, and halfe a score of dates cut small, beate all these together untill they be as small as for Marchpain, put thereto an ounce of cinamon, an ounce of ginger searced and a little sanders. beate all these together one houre after you make little cakes of it, and lay them upon your mould to print, and cast of the powder of cinamon and ginger between the mould and it so it doo not cleave, dry them before the fire till they be hard, and so lay them up in boxes and they will keep all the year.

From Lady Barbara Fleming's Manuscript Receipt Book (1673)

To make another kind of gingerbread
Take a quart of honey, put it into a great skillet on the fire and when it begineth to seeth, put thereto a pint of strong ale, & scum it clear, then put soo much grated bread as will make it like unto dow and put thereto halfe a pound of Liquorish, as much Aniseeds, and a quarter of a pound of ginger being finely searced with two ounces of graines, then take it out of your skillet and worke it on a table as you doo flower to dough to make it stiffe, then make it in cakes, put powder of Liquorish and Aniseeds upon your moulds so it cleave not and so lay them upon a board till they be dry, then lay them up in boxes.

From Lady Barbara Fleming's Manuscript Receipt Book (1673)