As we celebrate the festive season a delectable slice of history beckons.

Nestled in the picturesque village of Hutton-le-Hole, Ryedale Folk Museum cares for some 40,000 objects including a selection of gingerbread moulds.

Gingerbread, with its roots entwined in both aristocratic kitchens and folklore, has long been associated with Christmas.

The Tudor allure of gingerbread was based on both taste and exclusivity. The spices, including ginger, cinnamon, pepper, and saffron, transported it beyond the reach of the everyday consumer. This elite and luxurious indulgence was perfect for special and memorable occasions. Gingerbread was served to women immediately after childbirth and also at weddings. Its association with luxury continued as it became connected with Christmas.

The original gingerbread was different from the biscuit we know today, made from a paste of breadcrumbs, honey, and an array of spices. Later, a traditional recipe from Kirkbymoorside included allspice, caraway and ground cinnamon seeds—how exotic that gingerbread must have seemed!

Within the Museum's collection, the historic moulds were used by Kirkbymoorside baker Sonley's. The Sonleys were a family of confectioners in the nearby town of Kirkbymoorside during the 19th and early 20th centuries. As well as being purveyors of gingerbread, according to their advertisements, Sonley’s made ‘homemade bread, tea cakes, wedding, plum, rice, see and all other cakes to order. Fancy biscuits, veal and ham and pork pies.’

The Museum is fortunate to have acquired a number of items from Sonley’s, including the bread cart which was used for local deliveries. Many local people will remember the Adela Shaw Orthopaedic Hospital in the town, and it was one of the stops on the delivery route. The oldest Sonley’s gingerbread moulds from the collection date from the reign of King George IV (1820 – 1830).

Adorned with coats of arms and intricate carved designs, they would have been symbols of prestige. The meticulous process of applying the baking mixture to these moulds by hand, with even pressure, resulted in large, chewy gingerbread ‘pictures’.

There are also casts in the collection of a particularly festive mould, unusually made from concrete. This late Victorian mould had a design of holly and berries, diamond shapes, ears of wheat (perhaps as a symbol of the baker) and another botanical design, possibly yew with berries.

But, the question everyone is dying to know the answer to: was gingerbread a cake, biscuit or bread? The ‘bread’ is easy to eliminate. Gingerbras, the original name, translates literally from the Old French meaning ‘preserved ginger’—it seems to be only through the similarities of pronunciation that it became known as gingerbread. Originally, it was more of a chewy biscuit, but with time and the addition of flour, the texture varied according to geography so that some regions do indeed produce a cake.

www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk