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

 
Plus

 
 
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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.
 
 

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Candy corn is great as a garnish during the fall season in general, and Halloween in particular season.
 
 
EASY CANDY CORN GARNISHES

Cupcakes

Use candy corn as a cupcake topping. Create a circle of candy corn kernels around the rim of the cupcake. You can stand one kernel in the middle of the cupcake.
 
Or create your own patterns. It’s a fun party activity or after-dinner dessert activity for kids.
 
Jack-O-Lantern Cake

Make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and filling, and cover the sides with a mixture of candy corn and chopped nuts (if it’s a loaf cake, cover the top). Use the nuts to cover most of the cake and press in candy corn at intervals.
 
You can also use candy corn to make the eyes, nose and mouth of the Jack-O-Lantern, on the top of the cake.

For a regular iced cake, add candy corn as a cake topper.
 
Halloween Sundae

We love a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce and sprinkled with candy corn. (Butterscotch or caramel sauces don’t provide enough contrast to the candy corn.)
 
Here’s a fun idea that decorates ice cream cones with candy corn.

 
 
RECIPE: CANDY CORN CONES

Ingredients

 
Preparation

Use a piping bag to pipe royal ice cream around the perimeter of the cone, an inch at a time. Quickly press in the candy corn. Start at the bottom (pointed end) of the cone.

Royal icing dries to the touch quickly, although a thin layer can take 4 to 6 hours to dry completely.

The process goes faster with a group: Enlist the family. Otherwise, do it in front of the TV and the task will go more quickly.
 
 
MORE CANDY CORN RECIPES

[2] Candy corn (photo Liz West | Wikipedia).

[2] How about some candy corn fudge? Here’s the recipe from The Pampered Chef.

Ascorbic acid prevents cut fruit from turning brown. Citric acid provides tart flavor. And dipping apple slices into honey is delicious. Photo by Tova Photography | IST.

One of our colleagues wondered, “What’s the difference between citric acid and ascorbic acid? Aren’t they both in lemon juice?”

Yes, but the two products are not interchangeable.

Citric acid and ascorbic acid are both found in citrus juice, as well as in numerous other fruits and vegetables. But they have different properties.

Now that you know the difference, put it to work.

Start by serving sliced apples with a honey dip or drizzle. Use ascorbic acid—dip the sliced fruit in a lemon juice-water mixture—to keep the flesh from turning brown.

For citric acid: make some lime juice cordial!

The same is true with lime juice cordial (also called lime cordial, and essentially lime syrup).

Rose’s is the lime juice cordial most of us are familiar with. It’s lime juice concentrate and water, sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. The yellow-green color comes from Blue 1, an artificial food color. Sodium metabisulphite is added as preservative.*

In the U.K., this type of concentrated fruit syrup is called squash or cordial, and is made from fruit juice, water and a sweetener. (The more sophisticated flavors contain herbal extracts, such elderflower and ginger.)

For a soft drink, the cordial is mixed with club soda or water, in 1:5 proportion. Try it in ginger ale and cola, too.

For a gourmet touch, make your own lime cordial. Photo courtesy Rose’s.

The most popular use for the syrup in the U.S. is mixing with alcohol in a cocktail recipe. You can’t have a Gimlet or a Vodka Lime without lime juice cordial.

*When Rose’s product was patented in 1867, sugar was used as a food preservative. Rose’s enabled fresh lime juice to be preserved without the addition of alcohol. Today, the brand is owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. In the U.S., the sugar has long been replaced with HFCS. In the U.K. and Canada, sugar is still used: The regulators in those countries are not keen on HFCS.

RECIPE FOR LIME JUICE CORDIAL

This recipe makes about 3 cups. It has a shelf life of one to three months in the fridge. If you won’t use all of it, bottle it and give it to a cocktail- or soda-loving friend.

Ingredients

 
†Cream of tartar, a derivative of tartaric acid, isn’t acidic enough for this recipe.

Preparation

1. Heat water to boil.
2. While water is boiling, whisk together sugar, citric acid and tartaric acid in a small bowl.
3. Add to boiling water and whisk until sugar mixture completely dissolves. Add lime juice and rind, and stir.
4. Heat mixture for 2 minutes on high heat; cover and cool to room temperature, then mix in vodka.
5. Refrigerate overnight in an airtight container. Strain out rind and return mixture to fridge.
6. Extra step to extend the life of your cordial: Sterilize the bottle and lid by boiling for 10 minutes or heating in the oven at 180°F for 15 minutes.

WHEN NOT TO USE LIME JUICE CORDIAL

Sometimes you want the flavor of lime juice cordial, sometimes you don’t.

Because it’s easier and cheaper, some bars substitute lime juice cordial when fresh lime juice is called for—in a Cosmopolitan, Margarita or Mojito, for example. If you order a drink and anticipate a refreshing lilt of lime, you may be disappointed if the bar uses lime juice cordial.

Ask if fresh-squeezed lime juice is used, and if not, request that yours be made with it. Every bar has fresh limes. The fresh juice makes a big difference.

Halloween cake pops: a spooktacular treat. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

It’s tough work!

Hand-decorated to look spooky, these Halloween chocolates, cake pops, brownies and other sweets taste simply spooktacular.

Take a look at this festive Halloween assortment, which includes—among other delights—cake pop eyeballs and ghosts, caramel-filled chocolate eyeballs and great-tasting white chocolate ghosts.

Whether you’re looking for a gift or a well-deserved treat for yourself, we highly recommend each “boo-tiful” bite.

Read our review.

Go directly to the goodies.