Firebird
01-05-2008, 01:01 AM
My wife is getting ready for Orthodox Christmas. She's made old-world gingerbread. This ain't the stuff you get from a ready mix box, folks.
She started with rye flour, eggs, and honey. It's all been spiced heavily with ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and candied orange zest. The dough smelled delicious, like a cookie factory or something. The dough cured and absorbed all that flavor in the fridge for three weeks.
She baked the bread today. No house has ever smelled so wonderful. The result was a dark, dense, wonderfully spiced bread that has an almost cake-like texture. She baked it in thin sheets, and spread each sheet with plum jam. The sheets get pressed together in the fridge for two days, and in the end you have the best sweet treat you've ever tasted.
I feast on January 7th!
She started with rye flour, eggs, and honey. It's all been spiced heavily with ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and candied orange zest. The dough smelled delicious, like a cookie factory or something. The dough cured and absorbed all that flavor in the fridge for three weeks.
She baked the bread today. No house has ever smelled so wonderful. The result was a dark, dense, wonderfully spiced bread that has an almost cake-like texture. She baked it in thin sheets, and spread each sheet with plum jam. The sheets get pressed together in the fridge for two days, and in the end you have the best sweet treat you've ever tasted.
I feast on January 7th!