They don’t always turn out the way we want, so we look for perfect proportions and recipes. When looking at centuries-old recipes, sometimes we are frightened by the language and complicated descriptions, but Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, once called the queen of Polish cuisine, had an extraordinary talent for imparting knowledge. This is also the case with the Krakow gingerbread recipe.
Krakow gingerbreads that delight with their taste. A simple recipe from the master of Polish cuisine
In the book “Baby, placki i mazurki” published in 1908, Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa gives a recipe for Krakow gingerbread. Interestingly, although we associate gingerbread with spiced honey cookies, the author recommends using sugar. If we want our baked goods to be more aromatic, we can replace sugar with honey in the same proportions. There are a few words and measurements in the recipe that may be a bit confusing today, so we provide the translation in brackets. At the time the recipe was created, there were no temperature-controlled ovens, so Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa does not specify at what degrees the cookies should be baked. We recommend setting the thermostat to 160 degrees Celsius.
– Beat a pound (0.5 kg) of fine sugar in a pot over low heat with a foam beater with 5 whole eggs and 3 yolks for 19 minutes until it thickens well; when it cools down, add a pound (0.5 kg) of wheat flour, mix well and knead into a dough. If it turns out that the dough is too slow (if the consistency of the dough is too thin), you can add a little flour and an equal amount of sugar. Add a teaspoon full of crushed and sifted cloves, cinnamon and a little nutmeg. When the dough is well kneaded, roll it out to the thickness of a knife handle and cut it into long, four-cornered tablets, or cut it out with tin cutters. Put it in a warm place for three hours to dry, and only then put it on a baking tray, greased with butter and sprinkled with flour, in a warm oven, trying to see if it’s good – writes Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa in the book “Baby, pies i mazurki”
The history of gingerbread
The history of gingerbread dates back to antiquity. Back then, cakes smeared with honey called miodowniki were popular. In one of Apicius’s Roman cookbooks, we can even find a recipe for gingerbread with pepper, similar to today’s gingerbread. The tradition of baking the most popular cookies with honey and spices in Poland came to Toruń with the first German settlers. The favorable location of Copernicus Castle certainly contributed to this. The fertile land of Chełmno and Kujawy provided good flour. And a well-developed bee farm, a constant supply of delicious honey. Spices were easy to obtain due to the location on the trade route connecting Lviv with Gdańsk. These delicacies are baked in many cities around the world. However, Toruń’s only significant competitor in the competition for gingerbread priority in Europe was Nuremberg. Each of these cities jealously guarded their recipes, making inroads to learn their rival’s secrets. Finally, under the agreement of 1556, Toruń received the right to bake Nuremberg gingerbread, and Nuremberg began to officially produce Toruń gingerbread.
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