Traditional gingerbread made from rye dough
10 servings
60 minutes
Recipe from Vlad Piskunov, brand chef of the Matryoshka restaurant.
1
Heat the honey to 60 degrees. Add a mixture of spices (in our case, this is cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, but you can create a spice mix to your taste). Mix the honey with the spices and let it steep for 30 minutes.
- Honey: 280 g
- Spices: 5 g
2
Pour sugar into a dry pan and let it melt without stirring. Do not stir.
- Sugar: 113 g
3
Once the sugar has melted, carefully pour water into the pan, stir, and simmer the syrup for 2 minutes until it reaches caramel state.
- Water: 45 ml
4
Remove the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool for 5–7 minutes.
5
Add honey and butter. Mix very thoroughly to turn the butter and caramel into a uniform emulsion.
- Honey: 280 g
- Butter: 120 g
6
Add rye malt and mix thoroughly again.
- Rye malt: 38 g
7
Add half of the sifted flour, baking powder, soda, vanillin, and salt, and knead the dough with a mixer.
- Rye flour: 338 g
- Baking powder (raising agent): 8 g
- Baking soda: 4 g
- Vanillin: 7 g
- Salt: 5 g
8
Whisk the egg and mix it into the resulting mixture, then add the remaining sifted flour and knead the dough with a mixer (or by hand) until completely homogeneous. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 2 hours, preferably leaving it in the refrigerator overnight. The rested dough should resemble modeling clay in consistency.
- Chicken egg: 70 g
- Rye flour: 338 g
9
On a well-floured surface, place half of the dough and roll it out from the center to the edges into a rectangle 5-6 mm thick.
10
Trim the edges of the dough with a knife and transfer it to the baking tray.
11
Layer the filling on top of the same layer. In the restaurant version, this is a mixture of pumpkin dry jam mixed with ground dried cranberries, but any thick jam, crushed candied fruits, or fruit preserves can be used.
- Fruit butter (povidlo): 80 g
- Dried cranberries: 80 g
12
Similarly, roll out the second half of the dough, trim the edges with a knife, place it over the filling and gently press down without squeezing the filling to ensure the layers stick together better.
- Rye flour: 338 g
13
Decorate the gingerbread in any way: for example, create patterns with a fork or make lines with a knife, so it will be easy to divide the gingerbread into pieces.
14
Bake the gingerbread in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 15–17 minutes.
15
Let it cool, cut it into pieces, and serve ideally with tea from a samovar.