Traditional ripening gingerbread needs time for the ingredients to “melt together”. Honey, spices, butter and wheat flour ripen in the coldthanks to which the cake gains depth and that characteristic, slightly spicy sweetness.
When you open a jar of such cake in December, you will be hit by the smell of Christmas. This is an aroma that cannot be obtained from gingerbread made at the last minute or bought at a confectionery shop.
There is a lot of truth in what our grandmothers said: “Gingerbread is not baked. Gingerbread is allowed to mature.” And in fact, the cake matures for several weeks, acquires character and, like a good wine, the older it becomes, the better it becomes.
This recipe is simple but requires patience. What is very important here is not so much the main ingredients, but the spices. Their appropriate composition will make the cake taste delicious and smell even more beautiful.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- 500 g of honey (preferably buckwheat or linden)
- 250 g of sugar
- 250 g butter
- 1 kg of wheat flour
- 3 eggs
- 3 teaspoons of baking soda
- 250 ml of milk
- a pinch of salt
Spices:
- 2 tablespoons of ready-made gingerbread spice (or your own mixture): cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, a bit of pepper.
Step 1: Cook
Melt the butter, honey and sugar in a thick-bottomed pot. Heat over low heat until the mass is smooth and uniform. At this point, the whole house starts to smell like Christmas – and this is the moment when you know that the gingerbread season has begun.
When the mixture cools down slightly, add the spices. Mix everything until the spices dissolve well in the honey.
Step 2: Mix
In a large bowl, combine the flour with salt and baking soda dissolved in milk. Add the eggs and then pour in the warm (but not hot!) honey mass. Mix everything with a wooden spoon or your hands – the dough should be soft, sticky and heavy.
The dough is ready transfer to a stoneware or glass dish (preferably with a cover), cover with a cloth and store in a cool place – e.g. in the basement, pantry or bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Step 3: Leave it
After this step, we take a long break and we forget about the gingerbread dough for 3-6 weeks.
Step 4: Bake
At the beginning of December, it’s time to take your cake out of hiding. The dough should be darker, elastic and smelling like gingerbread heaven. We divide them into 3 parts and roll them out into patties about 1-1.5 cm thick.
Preheat the oven up to 170°C. Bake each cake separately for about 20-25 minutesuntil lightly browned.
After cooling, wrap them in a cloth and leave for 1-2 days to soften.
Step 5: Assemble
Now the fun part begins. Fill the gingerbread with plum jam, preferably home-made, slightly sour. Spread each cake with a thick layer of jam and arrange one on top of the other. Wrap the whole thing in baking paper, press it down with a board or a heavy cookbook and leave it for a few more days.
Thanks to this, the gingerbread becomes soft, moist and melts in your mouth.
Step 6: Decorate
The last stage is pure pleasure and a field for creativity.
- You can cover it with dark chocolate and sprinkle with almond flakes.
- You can make a classic icing with powdered sugar and lemon juice, which contrasts beautifully with the dark cake.
- Or just leave the gingerbread as it is – with a slight shimmer of honey and jam.
Ready gingerbread or its cakes can be stored for up to several weeks, tightly wrapped in parchment and foil. It gets better every day – more aromatic and soft.
Some people make the cake at the beginning of November and bake it just before Christmas Eve. It’s a perfect ritual that puts you in the Christmas spirit even much earlier than Christmas commercials appear on TV.
