Skip to main content

Piernik, a Polish Gingerbread Cake {Spice It Up!}

By

Today my Spice It Up! kiddos and I traveled, via tabletop, to the Moluccas. We looked at nutmeg, mace, cloves, and pepper...and we baked Piernik, a gingerbread cake from Poland.

I employed a new strategy: I put all of the steps - measurements required, mixing, etc. - on pieces of paper and had each student pick one. That was their task. If they finished, and there were still more tasks to complete, they could pick another. This alleviated the constant barage of 'What can I do?!'s that I had last week. Anything that reduces my stress level in directing a dozen kids to make a single dish is a good thing.


Some kids ground mace. Other ground nutmeg. Some measured sugar. And others whipped the cream to finish the cake. Good teamwork!


For the Cake
spray vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 -1/2 C white whole wheat flour
1 t ground ginger
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground mace
12 grinds of fresh black pepper
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t fleur de sel
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, cut into 1/2' pieces
1/2 C organic coconut sugar
1/2 C blackstrap molasses
1 large egg, beaten
2 t fresh, minced ginger

For the Topping
1 C chilled organic heavy whipping cream
1 T organic powdered sugar
Finely grated lemon zest
  
To Make the Cake
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat pan with vegetable oil. Line bottom with parchment paper; spray paper with oil. 

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices together in a medium bowl. Place butter in a large bowl. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over and whisk until melted. 

Whisk in sugar, molasses, egg, and fresh ginger. Add dry ingredients; blend with a spatula. Transfer to prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean - 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert and remove parchment.

TOPPING
Beat cream and sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. Spread over cake. Garnish with zest. 

Some of the comments: "Wow, this tastes good...even though there is no chocolate in it." Can I take some home to my mom and dad?!? "This tastes like the holidays." One thing - I didn't get to try it! I guess I'll have to make another cake this weekend...just to try it. It smelled amazing. But, I am a gingerbread fanatic. Case in point: not only did we bake the piernik, I also brought in honningkagehjerter (Danish gingerbread cookies).
Labels:

Comments

  1. KitaJanuary 24, 2014 at 4:29 PM

    Perfect timing! I have a big Polish New Years party to attend tomorrow night and eveyones bringing food! Great recipe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Camilla M. MannJanuary 24, 2014 at 4:31 PM

      That sounds like fun! Let me know what you think of the cake. It was a hit with the kids and it did smell good.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

By
If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce
1 comment
Read more

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

By
To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P
9 comments
Read more

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

By
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir
15 comments
Read more