Piernik Staropolski: Polish Gingerbread Cake (Matured Christmas Cake)

Step 1

Prepare a 2 qt/2 litre cooking pot. Pour in the honey, add sugar and butter. Put on a really low heat and gradually bring to a near-boil, stirring continuously. Set aside to cool completely. [important!]

Step 2

In a small glass, stir baking soda together with milk, let it dissolve. Then, add it into the sugary mass.

Step 3

Add in the eggs and stir them in. Add half a teaspoon of salt.

Step 4

Add flour into the sugary mass gradually, kneading by hand or using a stand mixer (dough hook works well). The dough is dense and heavy, so make sure your equipment can take it.

Step 5

When the dough is well kneaded, form a dough ball and place it into a bowl (stoneware bowls are great for this, but any container will do). Initially the dough can feel a bit loose, but with time it will become denser as it matures.

Step 6

Cover with a linen cloth and leave in a cool place. If you live in a warm climate, you can store it on the lower shelves of the fridge.

Step 7

Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Roll each part with a rolling pin - I do it directly on a piece of parchment paper, so I can transfer it easily into a baking pan later on. Aim for a thickness of roughly 0.4 inch (1 cm). If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle some flour on your worktop to ease the process.

Step 8

Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C). Prepare 3 large baking pans. Mine are rectangular, 10x16in (26x40cm), but you can choose a different shape or make more layers. If you don’t have so many equally sized baking pans, just use the one you’ve got and repeat the baking process 3 times.

Step 9

Place rolled out dough into the baking pans, place in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 300°F (150°C). Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Step 10

While waiting for the gingerbread layers to cool, let’s start making the nutty filling. If you have whole walnuts, grind them now.

Step 11

Drop sugar, butter and cream into a cooking pot, mix with a spoon and bring to a boil. Add ground nuts and blend them into the mass.

Step 12

Set aside to cool, then transfer into the fridge. Once cold, whip the walnut cream with a hand mixer, gradually adding the juice of half a lemon and 2 tablespoons of alcohol.

Step 13

Grab one baked gingerbread layer. Spread a generous amount of damson jam on top and cover with another cake layer. Spread the walnut cream and cover with a final piece of gingerbread.

Step 14

Wrap the whole cake with an aluminum foil. Store in a cool place (or alternatively - on the lower shelves of the fridge) for 3 days.

Step 15

Place half a cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, one stick of butter and 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder into a small saucepan. Cook on a low heat for 5-7 minutes. Leave to cool, until the mass thickens.

Step 16

Unwrap the gingerbread cake. Cover it with chocolate glazing. There is no right way to do it - I just pour it over and spread with a spoon.

Step 17

Sprinkle with a topping of your choice.