Toruń, Poland, home of Nicholas Copernicus, is one of many European cities that claims to have invented gingerbread. One story goes that woman had consumed a little too much mead and made the happy mistake of adding honey and spices to bread she was making. The city, which is one of the few in Poland not damaged during World War II, even hosts a Gingerbread Museum. When we spent the night in Toruń on a Thanksgiving road trip, the hotel left individually wrapped gingerbread cookies on our pillows.
After seeing the beautiful gingerbread figures available at most festivals in the Stary Rynek (Old Market Square) in Poznan, I wanted to buy some wooden gingerbread molds to bring home with me. They’re not easy to find. I found my first at a gingerbread shop in Gdansk (they only had two and my friend bought the other for her daughter), subsequent wooden molds were purchased at a wonderful souvenir shop in Toruń (I wish I had the address), and finally, I bought a large reversible mold (man on one side, woman on the other) in an antique store in Amsterdam, so I guess technically this one would be a speculaas mold.
I’ve made gingerbread in the past. I used to make three gingerbread houses every Christmas for our daughters to decorate. My American recipe uses molasses. The Polish recipe I used for inspiration, from Moje Wypieki, uses honey and is a little softer than what I’ve worked with in the past. The finished texture is light and lovely. One change that I will make next time is to reduce the baking soda. I hope with less leavening, the details from the mold will be more distinct after baking.
This is the first time I’ve used the gingerbread molds, which I have seasoned previously with mineral oil. It was fun to try them out. After rolling the dough, I patted and pressed it into the molds, which I lightly dusted with powdered sugar to be sure the gingerbread would release. It worked like a charm. I trimmed the pattern before baking, using a combination of a pizza cutter, a little pasta cutter, and the corner of my metal spatula. My royal icing piping isn’t precise enough to accent the lines in the molds, so Ed had the good idea of speading icing on the relief and then wiping it off, almost as if I were antiquing furniture. It highlights the pattern better. I may also leave them plain in the future.
In addition to my wooden molds, I tried out two large Christmas cookie cutters and made a bunch of little hearts. I piped a little royal icing on the larger cookies and the molded gingerbread, but I left my little hearts plain, but you could certainly sprinkle them with coarse sugar or sprinkles before baking, or coat with a thin glaze after baking. Traditional pierniczki should look rustic, not too perect. It would be a great baking project for kids.
Smacznego!
Lois
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PinDescription
A light, crisp, spice cookie
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey (spray the measuring cup with oil and the honey will pour out easily)
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 cups flour (you might like to try rye flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- In a saucepan, heat the honey, butter, and brown sugar over medium heat until the butter melts and sugar dissolves
- Remove from heat
- Stir in egg
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cocoa, and salt
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, about 1/4 inch thick
- Cut into sharpes or press into prepared molds
- Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 8 minutes
I can’t wait to try these! !
Smacznego, Sherri!
Lois, thank you again. I love the stories that come with the recipes. Having only been in Poland once, they serve as mini tour guides and history lessons at the same time. Keep up the wonderful work. We just had our first snow here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada so the Christmas lights look festive against a white background.
Can’t wait to try the recipe. I have never made it with the addition of cocoa but it makes sense as you don’t have the molasses to lend the colour to the batter.
Elizabeth, you are too kind; thanks for sharing this culinary journey with me! Ottawa sounds lovely. They’re predicting 88 F (31 C) here in Tucson for American Thanksgiving on Thursday.
You’re exactly right about the cocoa. It’s there to add a bit of color. I loved this recipe; I’m sure I’ll make it again before Christmas.
Wonderful- and a good use for my speculaas molds! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, David; happy Thanksgiving to you and Markipedia too!
Lois – Thank you for sharing your recipe for the traditional Pierniczki gingerbread cookie. I made them for my husband and daughters and they loved them. I was wondering if you knew where I could purchase the traditional shape cookie/cake cutter? I am not one of those fortunate bakers who has a mold so I just used a heart cookie cutter and glazed them. I have looked everywhere for the traditional cutter. Thank you again for sharing the delicious treats.
★★★★★