Piernik (Polish gingerbread)
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Put the honey, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over a medium heat…
- Prep
- 24 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 19 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities scale automatically with servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment. Put the honey, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over a medium heat until fully melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Put the flour and spices in a large bowl and mix everything together.
Once the liquid ingredients have cooled
Once the liquid ingredients have cooled, whisk in the eggs. Pour over the dry ingredients, whisking them together to form a smooth batter – be careful not to overmix as this can lead to a dry cake. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 mins or until risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, use a large serrated
Once cooled, use a large serrated knife to slice the cake into 3 layers. Spread the jam across the 2 bottom cake layers, then reassemble the cake and set aside while you make the glaze. Put the cream, chocolate and honey in a medium pan and cook over a low-medium heat until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, pourable mixture. Put the cake on a wire rack set over a parchment-lined baking tray and pour over the glaze, making sure to cover the entire cake. Use a fish slice to carefully transfer the cake to a serving plate and allow the glaze to set. To decorate, dust with a little edible gold powder, if you like. Uniced, this cake will keep for up to 5 days. Once iced, enjoy within 3 days – just keep in the fridge, but remove before serving and eat at room temperature.
Recipe data from TheMealDB (themealdb.com) · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 3 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the servings stepper above the ingredients and every quantity adjusts. Cooking times stay roughly the same.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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