At the end of the 11th century, when the Crusaders returned to Europe from the Middle East bringing ginger and other spices, gingerbread became popular in Germany.

It was baked during the Christmas season as well as for year-round festivals. It engendered a trade guild: Only guild members could bake gingerbread, except during Christmas, when anyone could bake it.

According to a reference in FoodTimeline.org, the tradition of baking gingerbread houses began in Germany after the Brothers Grimm published their collection of fairy tales in 1812.

Inspired by the story of Hansel and Gretel, who nibbled at the witch’s candy-covered gingerbread house, German bakers created miniature houses from the already popular lebkuchen (gingerbread). Artists were employed to decorate the houses, which became particularly popular during Christmas.

The tradition crossed the ocean with the German immigration wave that began in 1820. But it’s only in recent years that we’ve seen gingerbread houses for Halloween.

> See the year’s different gingerbread holidays, below.

> The difference between gingerbread, ginger cookies, and gingersnaps.
 
 
HALLOWEEN GINGERBREAD HOUSE KITS

Halloween gingerbread houses are available in easy-to-assemble kits; Those who just want to decorate can buy pre-assembled houses.

This week, we tasted two different brands. The Wilton kit we tried was a Victorian mansion—not particularly haunted based on the kit’s contents, but you can add your own touches.

[2] A new tradition: the Halloween gingerbread house available from Wilton (photo © Wilton).

The assembled Wilton gingerbread house measures 6 inches wide by 3.5 inches deep by 9.5 inches high. It is available at Michael’s Stores and Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores. You can find it online at Amazon.com.

If you want to buy one online, here’s a haunted gingerbread house with all of the aforementioned Halloween decorations. We haven’t tasted it. If you buy one, please send us your opinion on gingerbread.

ASSEMBLY TIP: Some of our gingerbread pieces arrived cracked. This is a relatively common occurrence, but not a disaster. The same royal icing you make to decorate the house is a good mortar to “glue” the pieces together. Glue it from the back.
 
 
START A FAMILY TRADITION

Decorating a gingerbread house is a family activity that can be carried through the generations. Start the tradition and take a photo of the finished house and the participants. See how the skill at decorating changes from year to year.

If you don’t have kids but want the tradition, invite your friends to an annual Halloween tea party with the gingerbread house as the centerpiece. Here are tea party ideas for every month of the year.
 
 
MORE GINGERBREAD RECIPES

 
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*In the mid-19th century, Britain occupied parts of Malaysia, where they encountered the red ginger plant. Hot and peppery, the word “ginger” began being used to describe people who were spunky or temperamental. Most linguistic sources suggest it became commonly used in the 1970s-1980s after a cultural reference to “temperamental redheads.” The term ginger became a widely-known nickname for redheads following a 2005 “South Park” episode called “Ginger Kids.” You can watch it on several streaming channels.