Par-tay!
Time has absolutely whizzed by and here we are at the 5th Yule Tarot Blog Hop! Our wrangler, Arwen, has invited us to “The Office Party” and asked us to give you, our readers, a gift.
Before we move on to the festivities, we must observe the traditions, so I present you with the links to my Hop neighbours and the Master List:
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Right, that’s the serious bit done, so break out your glad rags, slather on the slap, squeeze into your best dancing shoes…mirror, lipstick, manoeuvre (you too boys!)… and let’s par-tay!
Jut because I enjoy a bit of light Devilry, today’s gifts are brought to you by the number 15, a good bake and a fork 😀
This has become something in the way of my DD’s traditional specialty for Christmas and will be the fourth consecutive year (of her 12) that she will be making her Christmas Gingerbread Village.
Now this isn’t that hard biscuity gingerbread that you normally get , but a lovely moist, soft cake…Piernik (or Polish Honey Cake) to be precise, and my gift to you is the recipe.
You can use the mix in mould, like the village, or just make it in 1lb loaf tins (this will make 4), just remember that you need to reduce the cooking time quite a to for the smaller moulds. We bake “by nose” – if it smells done, it probably is, but stick a cocktail stick or match in to check.
Brought to you by the number 15
Piernik
Ingredients:
200g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp allspice
4 eggs
125ml milk
125ml vegetable oil
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
350g honey
500g plain flour
Method:
Mix the sugar, spices, and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the milk and oil, then add the bicarb.
In a small pan, bring the honey to the boil, then stir it into the bowl. Mix in the flour and stir well for 10 minutes. Stand the dough for 1 hour.
Pre-heat the over to 170C/Gas 3 and grease your moulds/loaf tins. Divide mixture between your tine/moulds to the depth of about 5cm (2″). The piernik will rise! If using moulds, don’t fill them all the way or you’ll overspill quite a lot, but you’ll want to cut off the base for a crafty nibble to ensure it’s level. Bake for 1 ¼ hours for a loaf or less if your mould is smaller. Our village takes about 30-40 mins.
Allow to cool and try not to eat it all at once 😀
It doesn’t require icing, but for the snow, we dribble over icing sugar mixed with a little Triple Sec and dust over some more icing sugar once that has dried a bit.
If all that is a little too Devilish for the you, I’ll leave you with another gift in the form of a more seasonal Number 15…
The Christmas Tarot © Corrine Kenner
Wishing you the very best for the holiday season (however you celebrate it, or don’t)!
As an added bonus gift, you can find an authentic 1591 Mince Pie (with meat) recipe here.
You can continue your Blog Hop journey using the links below….
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Happy Hopping, and don’t forget to comment..
20 December 2015
Great post Ania…reminded me that I actually made a gingerbread house some years ago…. and perhaps it is time to make another 🙂
I love the food posts this time around. Excellent! I hadn’t seen this version of the gingerbread village. Wondering if it would work over here.
I used to make a traditional hard gingerbread house every year until I arrived in Houston in 1990. Tried it here once, had it all done and beautiful, went to bed, got up the next morning and it had completely collapsed!
We sat around wondering what had gone wrong, and then realized it was about 80F/20C and high humidity. Oops! Just a tad too much moisture in the air; not your usual climate for gingerbread to dry and harden. Never made it again, but now your DD has inspired me to try this when I get out West next year where it’s much drier. 🙂
My fav bit is the icing with the Triple Sec–sounds lovely!
I’m not a huge fan of hard gingerbread – it reminds me of slightly stale (i.e. chewy) biscuits. This gingerbread is more of a cake and I absolutely guarantee you’ll love it 😀
Loved it, thank you!
I remember the meat mince pie 🙂 And that gingerbread village looks delicious! Thanks for sharing those 😀
My mouth is watering just reading this post – I looooooove gingerbread. Thank you for this gift, Ania, I’ll be trying this recipe out very soon! All the best to you for the holidays x
That’s fab! and just in case anyone else is wondering like I was – where can I get a mould, here’s a link… http://theshirebakery.com/product/village-scene-cake-mould/
Great 🙂 Ours came from The Works a few years ago, but is the same except blue. After several years of experimentation, we now just use it for the houses and bake a separate base in a round cake tin, then glue it all together with the icing 😀
MMMM now I’m hungry. 😀 Thank you for the recipes!
Yummie, thanks Ania!
Thanks for the recipes! The Piernik looks delicious! Merry Christmas!