Gingerbread Old Fashioned

Gingerbread Old Fashioned adapted from Michelle McGlinn

Here’s a toast to gingerbread freedom and a great way to start the new year. There’s nothing so classic as an Old Fashioned cocktail, so let’s start there and work our way into a winter holiday themed version. Speaking of winter holidays, way back in ancient Roman times they celebrated Saturnalia, a party in honor of the god Saturn, held around the winter solstice to mark the end of the agricultural season. Saturn was infamous for eating his own children, so none might overthrow him one day. During Saturnalia, revelers would eat little man shaped biscuits, too. Ginger was a medicinal herb in Roman times, and some place the origins of the gingerbread man right there.

getting in the baking spirit

The term gingerbread derives from Middle English gyngebreed, or “gingered food”. It’s technically not bread, after all – it’s cake and cookies! Queen Elizabeth I is credited with commissioning her special bakers to make gingerbread in the form of actual people, but after her death the treat became associated with witches and was banned. The brother’s Grimm seized on this dark turn of affairs. Just when you thought it was safe to eat gingerbread again, it reveals its true nature and winds up in jail. We’re probably all much safer this way. Don’t let him know that if he turns sideways, he can easily squeeze through the bars. Happy New Year!

run run run as fast as you can for this pair

Gingerbread Old Fashioned adapted from Michelle McGlinn

1 ½ oz bourbon

½ oz calvados

1 oz gingerbread syrup*

3 dashes cardamom bitters

Orange wheel

Combine ingredients in a favorite glass over ice and stir. Garnish with the orange, a cinnamon stick, or a gingerbread cookie.

 * simmer ½ cup water, ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tbs molasses, ½ inch sliced fresh ginger, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp allspice berries, 5 cloves in a small sauce pan over medium heat to dissolve sugar, then allow to steep for 20 minutes while cooling. Strain and bottle.

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