Homemade Gingerbread Loaf Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why does my gingerbread loaf sink in the middle? ›

Most likely too much bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) was added. Bicarbonate of soda is an extremely active raising agent and if you add too much then the gingerbread will rise up a lot during baking, then sink back fairly dramatically.

How long does gingerbread last? Baked gingerbread will keep for 5 days in an airtight container. If it's humid or moisture is present, the gingerbread will soften. You can freeze gingerbread either raw or cooked.

Step 3: Turn the mixture out onto some cling film and pat into a flat ball, wrap tightly and chill for 30 minutes then place in the freezer until you are ready to use it. You can keep unbaked biscuit/cookie dough in your fridge for up to 3 days before baking or freeze for a month.

If your gingerbread cake comes out dry, there could be a few reasons. Overbaking the cake, overmixing the cake, or the oven being too hot will lead to a dry cake.

Just melt the sugar in a pan over low heat. You want to allow it to turn brown, but make sure not to burn it (otherwise it won't taste so great). Then take your gingerbread house pieces, dip the edges in melted sugar and hold them together for a few seconds. That's it!

It's tempting to want to roll out the dough as soon as it comes together, but let it have a little time to rest. Chilling it for at least two hours or overnight gives the ingredients a chance to absorb one another, making it a whole lot easier to roll out the dough without it cracking.

“Edible” is a loose term, apparently. A gingerbread house is about as edible as play-dough—you can eat it, but should you? These houses are usually left out for days (more on that later), drying out and crusting over.

A: the actual gingerbread has a shelf life of 18 months and the icing is 12 months. The icing is the part that will become stiffer, will be harder to get through the decorating bag and won't hold as well. There should be a date on the box which is 5 digits long and is the date of the year the house was baked on.

To achieve crispy, sturdy gingerbread, Lomas recommends letting the baked gingerbread pieces dry out for a day or two. Don't put the pieces in the refrigerator or keep them in a closed container, as this keeps the moisture in. “The longer it dries out, the easier it is to work with for construction purposes,” she said.

If you'd like to get ahead, you can also freeze the gingerbread dough for up to three months. To freeze gingerbread dough, create small flat discs of dough balls and wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Then thaw them at room temperature until they're able to be easily rolled out.

Can I leave gingerbread out overnight? ›

It is generally not recommended to eat gingerbread that has been left outside for several days.

The safest method is to take the too-firm dough out of the refrigerator and simply wait until it's soft enough. If you want to speed the process up a bit, choose a warm spot.

For making the gingerbread house dough, you will need the following ingredients: flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, molasses, an egg and vanilla extract.

Molasses is the most associated with gingerbread. Light molasses, a mild molasses, comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup. Dark molasses, a full-flavored molasses, comes from the second boiling of the sugar syrup, and is the most popular molasses used in gingerbread recipes.

Another key difference from modern-day gingerbread is that the medieval variety is made with honey and breadcrumbs. These were mixed with saffron and pepper to form a stiff paste which was formed into a square, sprinkled with cinnamon and decorated with box leaves secured with cloves.

Gingerbread is made harder by molasses and honey, but it becomes softer when water is absorbed by the sugar.