Gingerbread Nativity and the Reason for the Season
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Gingerbread houses with their pretty decorations all covered in icing and candy have always fascinated me. Modern gingerbread houses have their roots in European traditions ranging from simple cottages to elaborate constructions. So it was that when we chanced upon this set of German Nativity gingerbread molds, I had to bring it home as I also collect Nativity sets.
Nativities have a timeless charm to them, depicting an event bridging heaven and earth. The reason for the celebration is the birth of the Christ Child. The angels proclaim, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace and goodwill to all men.” Without Christ, there is no Christmas.
The cookie molds came with a gingerbread recipe which was a little different from the American gingerbread. It uses honey and treacle instead of molasses and calls for gingerbread spice. As I have never been a fan of heavily scented gingerbread cookies, I decided to give this recipe a try. Since I did not have treacle or gingerbread spice, I had to change things up a bit. I reduced the brown sugar and used all honey instead of half honey and half treacle. It tasted really good.
Making the dough, cutting the little figures, and slabs of walls and base were easy enough. Transferring the huge base slab to the cookie sheet was a little tricky. A third of it actually broke off and I had to re-attached it on the cookie sheet. I was really happy when all the large sections came out of the oven intact.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (160g) honey
- 1/3 cup (80ml) water
- ¼ cup (45g) brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 2 sticks (1 cup/230g) butter
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 cups (600g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions
Bring honey, water, and brown sugar in a small saucepan to a boil. Stir in ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Add butter and salt and stir till butter is melted and well combined. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.
Combine all-purpose flour and baking soda in a large bowl. Pour cooled mixture in flour. Mix with a spatula and then knead into a soft dough. Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
Place on baking sheet and bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
http://www.rotinrice.com/2011/12/gingerbread-nativity-and-the-reason-for-the-season/Next came the decorating of the figures and the construction of the manger. An extra pair of hands was needed to prop up the large sections of “wall” and put them together. I enlisted my trusted helper, Ro-Ri San. 
The process was very time consuming but we had fun putting it together. Finally, it was done and we could stand back to admire the outcome.
The Wise Men…
The palm trees were fun to decorate but were a little top heavy and difficult to keep erect.
I added the Star of Bethlehem. It did not come in the kit.
Please visit again on Thursday for my Christmas post as I will be sharing some family pictures and also a special Nativity in my collection. In the meantime, here is the recipe for the gingerbread cookies…
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 8)
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What a unique gingerbread house! So perfectly decorated, it’s a work of art!
What a wonderful post! A beautiful and charming Nativity, it lifted my heart. A great recipe which I am going to try – I will probably make just plain cookies rather than attempt to re-create the Nativity at this advanced date before Christmas! I really enjoy your blog.
May you have a most blessed Christmas.
So glad to hear that you found it uplifting.
Ye, I will probably make this gingerbread again as it tasted really good. Have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This is gorgeous Nativity gingerbread
Biren, Very pretty gingerbread house. Love the decoration
I just made gingerbread cookies with honey too. The dough was so easy to handle and tastes good.
I am sure your gingerbread cookies must be very tasty and pretty. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Hi Biren, wow..your ginger bread house so pretty and cute. Very neat decoration, 2 thumbs up for you. Have a nice day.
I love that!!!!! Well done, Biren!
Happy holidays!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s for Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
Wow!! You certainly did a fantastic job with that Gingerbread Nativity! I could never decorate cookies that nicely! I also like the gingerbread recipe… love treacle.
Hope you have a joyful and wonderful Christmas!!!
I just purchased a prefabricated gingerbread house for my daughter and her friend to make the other day. I’ll be posting photos of her efforts later today. You are a better women than I for making it all from scratch!! I absolutely love the Nativity…truly the reason for the season! So beautiful and inspiring Biren!! Have a very Merry Christmas my friend♥
I will have to check out your post. Pre-fab is just fine. We did that when the boys were little. This was quite a project but it was fun. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
One of the happiest moments of my life was when Dudette came to me a few weeks ago and confided that she knew Santa wasn’t real and that Christmas is really all about Jesus’ birthday.
I love your gingerbread nativity (and am shocked that there wasn’t a star with the kit!). Your decorating skills are stellar… I can’t wait to see the one you post for Christmas.
Blessed Christmas to you and your family Biren!
So glad to hear Dudette found the true meaning of Christmas. Certainly something to rejoice in.
The idea of attaching the star with a toothpick was inspired by one of the Nativity in our collection. I am really happy the way this Gingerbread Nativity turned out. Couldn’t have done it without hubby’s help. Please do visit again tomorrow as I have my Christmas post all ready to go.
A very Blessed Christmas and New Year to you and your family!
Was wondering if you have a link for the set, i was looking for a new one. This came out so beautiful. Merry Christmas to you and your family Biren.
-Gina-
Gina, I chanced upon this set at Homegoods. It is a one-off thing. However a quick search internet came up with this link http://www.amazon.de/RBV-Birkm.....B005PLB98G. I am not sure if Amazon Germany will ship to the US.
Thanks and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Very German
You did a fantastic job in setting the whole thing up.
Such a beautiful post, Biren! What a great way of honoring the TRUE reason for the season!
You did a fantastic job with your nativity gingerbread!
This is such a great idea! I adore nativity scenes, and have tried to make some out of dolls and such, but gingerbread cookies? Such a fresh idea.
Beautiful!! I have to get this set, it is the most beautiful cookie setting I have seen. My daughters will love it!
Have a blessed Christmas!
Be still my heart~
This gingerbread house is so different from the usual I have seen. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing and marvelous! I was so impressed with your Nativity scene I posted about it on my blog and pinned it on Pinterest. What a terrific way to bring back the focus to Christ. Thank you so much. I am definitely subscribing to your blog. (Thank you Foodgawker for bringing me to your blog!)
Nice to meet you Tammy, and thanks for visiting. I am very happy to hear you like the Gingerbread Nativity and its message. Many thanks also for sharing it. God bless and have a Blessed Christmas!
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I can tell by looking at the picture it will be yummy but difficult to make,it is very beautiful too. Merry christmas Aunt L.
Hi J, I am glad you like this Gingerbread Nativity.
Yes, the gingerbread is very yummy, not too sweet or heavily scented. It is a really good one to cut into shapes and decorate. I hope you, A, mom, and dad have a wonderful Christmas!
I stumbled on your website in search of a nativity scene. Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. Every year my daughter and I make a gingerbread house. I just LOVE the Gingerbread Nativity. I am also a collector of the Nativity scenes and to change from making a Gingerbread house to a Gingerbread Nativity every year would be an even better tradition to pass on. I cannot wait to find the set. Thank you so much. God Bless and have a Very Merry Christmas.
Hi Brenda, thanks for visiting and leaving such a sweet comment. I chanced upon this Nativity cookie cutters at Homegoods. I am sorry I can’t provide a local link for the set but it is available at Amazon Germany as stated in one of my response above. It will be a wonderful tradition to pass on. Please check out my Christmas post for a special Nativity in my collection http://www.rotinrice.com/2011/12/merry-christmas/. Wishing you and your family a very Blessed Christmas!
[...] dessert, we had panna cotta and the Gingerbread Nativity. Everyone was a little sad to see it being eaten but enjoyed it nevertheless, as it was really [...]
[...] girl. They are made by the same company that issued the Nativity set I used last Christmas for my Gingerbread Nativity over at Roti n [...]
I’m SO impressed with this, and as I too collect Nativity sets, I am going on an all out search for these little cutters. It’s divine – literally!! LOL
Looking for a gingerbread recipe and came across this. Love the navity set. My question if this page is still active, how long can we keep the navity set (decorated) before eating it? Don’t really want to make one and not be able to eat it, or eat it instantly and not be able to enjoy it visually.
I actually placed plastic shrink wrap over the Nativity for more than a week. This post was done on the 20th but we only ate it a few days after Christmas. It is a gingerbread cookie and so it kept really well. There was so much of it and so I cut it up into smaller pieces and continued to enjoy them for another week or so. Yes, you can definitely make it, enjoy it visually, and also eat it after that.
Where can I get these cookie cutters?!
Currently, this set of cookie cutters is only available at Amazon, UK. Here is the link.
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