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Gingerbread worth fighting for

This gingerbread cookie has a pedigree that dates to the American Revolution and a baker in Old City

CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

For Mother's Day, these charming gingerbread cookies offer a historical and tasty treat. They are made with replicas of the cookie molds of German-born Christopher Ludwick, who ran a bakery on Letitia Court beginning in 1754. Ludwick, a patriot, was named "Superintendent of Bakers for the Continental Army" by George Washington.

These not-too-sweet but intensely gingery cookies are made with an old-fashioned molasses recipe and are hand-pressed into these molds at Shane's Confectionery, on the same block where Ludwick's bakery operated more than 250 years ago.

Ludwick's cookie molds are now at the Museum of the American Revolution (but not always on display), so Shane's has commissioned additional molds to showcase at its store. The cookies make a lovely gift for Mom, along with a promise for a visit to the new museum.

Historic iced gingerbread cookie, $7, at Shane's Confectionery, 110 Market St., 215-922-1048.