What do you think of when you hear the word gingerbread?
Does your mind go to the cookie cutter houses loaded with icing and lollies? I learnt very early on in Tom's and my relationship that in our house, that is definitely not what gingerbread is. Gingerbread in our home doesn't need extra decorations, it is the perfect balance of spice all on its own.
Tom's mum is from Finland and their Christmas traditions are something we love to incorporate into the lead up to the festive season. Finnish gingerbread is probably completely different to the gingerbread you may be thinking of. It is spicy, delicious and around Christmas time is accepted as a meal all of it's own in our home.
Every year, we spend hours in the kitchen, baking trays upon trays. Preparing them to eat, gift and share with family and friends. It is one of our favourite Christmas traditions.
We use a recipe that has been passed down from Tom's Mummu (grandmother) and the key to getting the spice just right is taste testing along the way - something I love to do regardless. There is no such thing as a single batch of gingerbread, you always double the recipe and make as much as your mixer can possibly handle.
Once the ingredients have been mixed and the dough rested, it is time to get baking. We often have several baking trays on the go so that we can be as efficient as possible. One person rolling out the dough and cutting shapes and the other removing trays from the oven and moving the freshly baked gingerbread onto cooling racks. We cycle through this over and over again, swapping jobs when our arms ache from rolling until we have tins and containers full to the brim of gingerbread all different shapes and sizes.
Do you have a Christmas tradition you love? I would love to hear all about it - tag @mollys.cottage in your Instagram posts or use the hashtag #MCChristmas