I was told that gingerbread batter should be left in the fridge to ripen for around a month, but preferably longer. What exactly happens when it matures, and why it doesn’t go bad?

Question

UPDATE:

People are either screwing with me (though I asked people who don’t know one another so it’s highly unlikely) and they consistently say that they either never heard of that or that it should be 3-4 weeks maturation time. Primarily because honey and some spices have antibacterial features, so it doesn’t go bad

In: 1305

Answer 1

Never ever heard of that. I’m from austria, so I’m only familiar with Lebkuchen, but it is similar. Some pointed out that there are Bavarian recipes that do that, but as said, never heard of that.

But, what you do is that when you bake Lebkuchen, they tend to be very hard. Especially in times before Electric Ovens. Inorder to get it softer, you leave them for a while (fully baked!) In a box, and wait for the air humidity to soften it. Unlike other cookies (Kekse), they get better after a while instead of worse.

This is also regularly made in a quick way, where you keep an apple that you cut in half within that box too (the apple has to be changed daily/every two days so it doesn’t grow moldy and should not touch the Lebkuchen). That way they get softer a lot faster and the apple leaves a slight aroma (only very subtly, but noticeable)