Les Poissonchats

Ah, the gingerbread house – who wouldn’t fall for it? Hansel and Gretel isn’t in my top ten fairytales, but when I think about it, the story is full of intriguing elements: the sweets, the woods, the black cat, and a witch in the stove. I’m sure she rose out of that one like a phoenix, though ok that’s not the version we’re told. Instead, it ends with that wonderfully most enigmatic line: My tale is done, a mouse has run, and whoever catches it can make from it a large, large fur cap.

Anyhow, let’s get you that gingerbread rolling, it’s surprisingly easy to make in fact:

What you’ll need

• 200g honey
• 100g sugar
• Half a dl milk
• Grated cardamom, cinnamon nutmeg and, with a nod to my friend Georgia, a whiff of mahlepi
• An egg
• 500g flour, rye works very well or a T130 full grain wheat
• Cream for brushing

How you bake it

Mix honey, sugar, milk and spices at low heat on the stove, the sugar is supposed to melt completely. Add the egg and mix, then the flour and take off the heat, knead into a smooth dough and let sit in the fridge for an hour. 

Roll out the dough to a generous centimetre and sprinkle with water. Either cut into squares or cut out cute little Christmas shapes with a cookie cutter. 

Brush with cream and bake for 20 mins at 160°C no fan. Brush again with cream while still warm and let cool on the baking tray. 

How you eat it

Perfect perfect! Advent season treat, also the gorgeous scent in the process of making those will turn your house into a Christmas Fairy Tale instantly. 

*This is Les Poissonchats Wondrous Advent Calendar! Advent calendars are a big tradition where I come from: every day until Christmas Day you prepare a small gift for a loved one, fourandtwenty little surprises. Advent calendars come in beautifully old fashioned prints on cardboard, extra glitter and glory, and each day there’s a little perforated window waiting for you be opened. Others are more elaborate, pretty baskets filled with twenty four numbered parcels, red velvet ribbons and sprigs of fir. The one I’m making for you this season is a different one altogether, it comes in digital form. Unless specially marked, all content is hand-stitched by myself, lovingly compiled and written for your amusement.