Burgundy – Dijon gingerbread

A real Burgundy dessert

The most famous gingerbead cake in all of France is Dijon gingerbread. From the second half of the 19th Century up to 1949 Dijon had 12 gingerbread maufacturers.

The story goes that gingerbread was imported from Flanders by Duc Philippe Le Bon who tasted one slice of the cake made with honey in Courtrai and took back the cook with him to Burgundy!

Later, at the end of the 15th Century Gaulderye bread appeared (made with honey and flour) which was eaten until the end of the 17th Century.
The first gingerbread worthy of this name, appeared in 1711 in Dijon, rue Saint-Nicolas made by Bonnaventure Pellerin who was a small baker. Later Barnabé Boittier born in Dijon in 1768 bought a house in Saint-Jean’s Place,which is now Place Bossuet, in the heart of Dijon. He produced and sold gingerbread and a great variety of differents breads and cakes.

Barnabé Boittier stopped his activity in 1838. His son was a lawyer and didn’t want to carry on the business, so the gingerbread shop was sold to Louis Mulot who kept the shop until 1880 and then his second son up to 1902. The shop was taken over by his son-in-Law Louis-Auguste Petitjean. The house Mulot-Petitjean was born and still exists in the same place in Dijon today!

Make it yourself for Chistmas !!
250 g honey
10 cl hot milk
250 g melted butter
200 g self raising flour
50 g brown sugar
1 egg
a pinch of salt
cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg

Mix the honey with the milk.
Add the melted butter, then the flour and stir energetically. Add the egg, sugar, salt and finally the spices.
Cook for 30 to 35 mn in the oven (180 ° C) in a greased cake tin.