“The Moravians know how to keep Christmas,” but “the simple secret” of such a Christmas is “that the Lord Jesus Christ must have first place in it.” —The Wachovia Moravian, December 1895
Moravian Christmas Cakes
Sharing baked goods at Christmas was a popular Moravian tradition. Consider this diary entry dated December 21, 1834:
“On this day a great many people bake their Christmas cakes. There being but a few patterns in town, they are borrowed in every house and consequently only a few can bake at a time.”
The next year he wrote on December 21: “A disagreeable day. But Christmas cakes were to be baked tomorrow and so I started off to get some molasses…”
An unknown diarist wrote: “Of all Christmas odors — lingering whiff of cedar, spice of burning pine — there is none as redolent as the smell of baking Christmas cakes…”
An unknown diarist wrote: “Of all Christmas odors — lingering whiff of cedar, spice of burning pine — there is none as redolent as the smell of baking Christmas cakes…”
The thin, spicy, ginger cookies sold today have evolved out of this centuries old Christmas tradition of Germans in North Carolina (Wachovia), Pennsylvania (Bethlehem) and Europe.
No comments:
Post a Comment