Whole Wheat Gingerbread with Citrus and Warm Spices

Enjoy the flavors of this historical Gingerbread made with whole wheat flour, rye flour, honey, candied citrus peel, and a variety of warm spices.

The HBinFive Bakers finished baking through the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book and decided to continue our bread-baking journey. We chose not to bake through another book, but to bake bread each month around a particular theme.

For November, Michele of BigBlackDogs, picked historical breads as the theme.  I love learning about the history of breads so I knew I would have fun with this one.  I consulted one of my favorite books, “The History of Bread” by Bernard Dupaigne, to find a suitable recipe. I finally landed upon this Gingerbread recipe in the back of the book.

“Gingerbread is said to have come to the attention of Philippe le Bon in Flanders, where he took such a liking to this ‘bee syrup cake’ that he brought the recipe back to Dijon. It is also found throughout Europe. Each region has its own recipe and traditional shape derived from popular legend or custom, such as the German Saint Nicholas or the little New Year piglet.” – – Bernard Dupaigne The History of Bread

Although it has “bread” in the name, Gingerbread is traditionally considered a cake that requires neither kneading nor leavening.  This recipe includes yeast so I decided it fit the description of a historical bread.

This bread doesn’t contain any white flour so it is rather dense.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  However, when I took a bite, I was pleasantly surprised.  It reminds me a little bit of a fruit cake but not quite.  It has a very pleasing citrus flavor in almost every bite.  It pairs especially well with coffee or tea.

I think this Gingerbread would make a nice gift for the Holidays. I plan on bringing some of it to the family gathering on Thanksgiving since it keeps so well.

Gingerbread

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: 1 Loaf 1x

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Description

Discover how to make this historical Gingerbread with whole wheat flour, rye flour, candied citrus peel, and a variety of warm spices.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 7 ounces honey
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 pound butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground clove
• Grated peel of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups rye flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 ounces candied citrus peel or ginger (I used homemade candied orange peel)
• 1 tablespoon shredded almonds, optional

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Instructions

Melt the honey, sugar, milk, and butter together over low heat.

Add the ground spices and grated lemon peel.

Add this mixture to the rye and wheat flour blended with the yeast. Mix thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous dough.

Blend in the citrus peel.

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F.  Butter a loaf pan and sprinkle the bottom with shredded almonds.  Since I had a good bit of dough to work with, I decided to bake the Gingerbread in my Pullman pan.

Fill the pan with the dough and bake it for about 40 minutes. A knife blade inserted into the loaf should come out dry.

Cool to a lukewarm temperature and unmold on a rack.

Notes

Adapted from: The History of Bread by Bernard Dupaigne

For best results, allow the gingerbread to rest for 48 hours before serving or eating.

• Category: Sweet Bread
• Method: Yeast

The gingerbread is best if stored for 48 hours before serving or eating.  That’s the hard part.

Thanks for joining me in the bread baking blog.  I hope you enjoy this historical bread.

Happy Baking!

Cathy