Lebkuchen in Nuremberg, pepparkakor in Sweden, piernik in Toruń, speculaas in the Netherlands, mézeskalács in Hungary… Every country in Europe has its own gingerbread, and almost all of them bring it out at the same time of year: when the days draw in and the Christmas markets go up. Behind them lies one shared story of spice routes, monasteries and guilds… and a blend of warming spices that now finds its way into a mug.
In this guide we take a tour of Europe’s gingerbread traditions, break down the spices that give it its flavour, then finish with a Christmas-market-style Gingerbread Latte recipe that’s ready in 3 minutes.
Origins: honey, spices and monks
Mixing honey, flour and aromatics is an ancient idea: the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all baked honey cakes. But gingerbread as we know it really took shape in medieval Europe, when spices from the East (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper) travelled up the trade routes to the great merchant cities.
Back then, those spices cost a fortune. Monasteries, with their beehives (and therefore honey and wax) and well-equipped kitchens, were among the first to turn them into festive cakes. They were also credited with health benefits: in medieval medicine, “warming” spices were believed to aid digestion and keep the body warm through the winter.
A word with tasty roots
The English word gingerbread didn’t originally mean “bread made with ginger”: it is thought to come from the Old French gingebras, a confection of preserved ginger. Only later did the name shift to the spiced cake. In Germany and Sweden, people long spoke of “pepper cake” (Pfefferkuchen, pepparkaka), as “pepper” was then used as a catch-all word for exotic spices.
A gingerbread tour of Europe
Germany: Nuremberg Lebkuchen
Nuremberg, a crossroads of the spice routes at the heart of Europe, became the capital of Lebkuchen. Records mention Lebkuchen in Franconia and Swabia as early as the late 13th century. The finest, Elisenlebkuchen, contain very little or no flour and plenty of nuts. Today, “Nürnberger Lebkuchen” carry a protected geographical indication, and you’ll find them at every Christmas market across the German-speaking world.
France: Reims, Dijon and Alsace
In France, Reims was long the home of pain d’épices: its guild of gingerbread makers was recognised in the late 16th century. In the 19th century, Dijon took over with a recipe based on wheat flour, whereas Reims tended to use rye. Alsace, meanwhile, made gingerbread an Advent essential, right down to the stalls of the Strasbourg Christmas markets.
Scandinavia: pepparkakor
In Sweden, pepparkakor are wafer-thin, crisp biscuits flavoured with cinnamon, ginger, cloves and often cardamom. They’re eaten on St Lucia’s Day (13 December) and throughout the festive season, and the same dough is used to build gingerbread houses, pepparkakshus. Denmark (brunkager) and Finland (piparkakut) share the tradition.
The Netherlands and Belgium: speculaas, speculoos and peperkoek
In the Low Countries, two families live side by side. On one hand, speculaas (speculoos in Belgium), a crunchy spiced shortbread pressed into carved wooden moulds and traditionally linked to St Nicholas. On the other, peperkoek or ontbijtkoek, a soft cake close to French pain d’épices. For those caramelised-biscuit notes in a mug, Banana Speculoos is the latte version, with velvety banana and 8 spices.
Central Europe: piernik, perník and mézeskalács
In Toruń, Copernicus’s home town, piernik has been a speciality since the Middle Ages, so much so that the city has a museum dedicated to it. In the Czech Republic, perník from Pardubice is just as famous. In Hungary, mézeskalács are honey gingerbread hearts decorated with red and white icing, sometimes set with a little mirror, and given at fairs as a token of affection. In Romania, turtă dulce plays the same role at the year-end markets.
England: the gingerbread man
In England, the idea of shaping biscuits in the likeness of guests is credited to the court of Elizabeth I. The gingerbread man was born, and went on to win over the whole world through fairy tales and the festive season. Gingerbread houses, for their part, became popular in Germany in the 19th century, in the wake of the tale of Hansel and Gretel.
The gingerbread spices, one by one
Proportions vary from country to country, but the core of warming spices stays the same. Here’s what each one brings to the Pure Tea Gingerbread Latte:
- Ginger: warmth and a gentle kick. Traditionally considered warming and good for digestion.
- Cinnamon: rounded, woody notes, the signature of Christmas. Often studied for its role in blood sugar.
- Cloves: the festive character, rich in eugenol.
- Nutmeg: the warm, enveloping note.
- Cardamom: a lemony freshness, a Scandinavian favourite.
- Coriander (seeds): a slightly citrusy touch that rounds out the blend.
- Fennel: an aniseed sweetness, traditionally digestive, and a cousin of the anise found in Alsatian gingerbread.
- Allspice: cinnamon, clove and nutmeg rolled into one. A historical footnote: it only reached Europe after the great voyages of discovery, so it was absent from medieval recipes.
Then there’s the question of sweetness. In the Middle Ages, honey sweetened gingerbread, long before cane sugar became widely available. In our version, dates do the job: their caramel-like sweetness recalls the treacle in British and American gingerbread, with no added sugar at all.
From biscuit to mug: the birth of the gingerbread latte
The gingerbread latte is a recent invention: it appeared in the early 2000s in coffee shops, which turned the flavours of the Christmas biscuit into a syrup for hot drinks. The idea caught on, but these versions often rely on sweet, flavoured syrups.
The Pure Tea Gingerbread Latte goes back to the source, with an ingredient list a Nuremberg baker would recognise: dates, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, cloves, allspice, fennel, nutmeg. The powder is 100% natural, with no added sugar, no artificial flavourings, no colourings or preservatives, caffeine-free, vegan, gluten-free and made in France. A 50 g resealable pouch at €9.90 makes around 8 to 10 cups at 1 teaspoon each.
Spicier and more intense than the Pumpkin Spice Latte, which leans on pumpkin and gentle spices, it’s the drink of the season from November to February. Measurements, variations and baking ideas: it’s all in our Gingerbread Latte guide.
Recipe: Christmas-market Gingerbread Latte
The feel of a Christmas-market chalet in a mug, with a hint of orange (common in Alsatian gingerbread) and a biscuit for dunking.
Ingredients (1 large mug)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons Gingerbread Latte powder
- 2 tablespoons hot water (or hot milk)
- 150 to 200 ml milk, dairy or plant-based (barista oat is ideal)
- 1 thin strip of unwaxed orange zest
- 1 pinch of cinnamon, to finish
- Optional: 1 small biscuit such as pepparkakor or speculoos, on the side
Method
- Infuse the milk: heat the milk with the orange zest to 65–70 °C at most, without ever letting it boil. Remove the zest.
- Make the paste: in the mug, mix the powder with the 2 tablespoons of hot liquid until you have a smooth, lump-free paste.
- Froth: froth the hot milk with an electric frother, a whisk or in a sealed jar shaken vigorously (all our methods are in our guide on how to froth a latte without a machine).
- Assemble: pour the milk onto the spice paste while stirring, then spoon the foam on top.
- Finish: a pinch of cinnamon over the foam, and the biscuit on the saucer.
Our tips
- Which milk? Barista oat milk brings a biscuity roundness that’s perfect with the spices. Our comparison of the best plant milk for a latte will help you decide.
- Coffee-shop version: add a shot of espresso to the spice paste before the milk (the drink will then contain caffeine).
- Iced version: mix the powder with a splash of warm milk, then top up with cold milk over ice.
- Allergens: the powder is packed in a facility that also handles nuts, milk and gluten. The accompanying biscuit usually contains gluten, so choose accordingly.
You’ll find the full range in our Fruity Latte collection, and spice lovers will also enjoy our Chai infusion.
FAQ: gingerbread and gingerbread latte
Where does gingerbread come from?
Honey cakes have existed since antiquity, but gingerbread was born in medieval Europe with the arrival of spices from the East. Monasteries and merchant cities such as Nuremberg, and later Reims and Dijon in France, made it their speciality.
What’s the difference between pain d’épices, Lebkuchen and speculoos?
French pain d’épices is a soft honey cake. German Lebkuchen is a tender biscuit, often rich in nuts. Speculoos (speculaas) is a crisp, crunchy spiced biscuit pressed into wooden moulds.
Which spices are in gingerbread?
The classic core is ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, often joined by cardamom, anise or fennel, coriander and allspice. The Pure Tea Gingerbread Latte contains 8 of them, paired with dates.
Does the Pure Tea Gingerbread Latte contain sugar or caffeine?
No. It contains no added sugar (the sweetness comes solely from dates) and no caffeine. It is also vegan, gluten-free and free from artificial flavourings.
How do you make a gingerbread latte at home?
Mix 1 to 2 teaspoons of powder with a splash of hot liquid to form a smooth paste, then top up with 150 to 200 ml of milk heated to 65–70 °C at most, without boiling. Froth and dust with cinnamon.
