Grybukai

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 150 ghoney
• 100 gsugar
• 100 gbutter, melted
• 2eggs
• 100 mlsoured cream
• 1 teaspoonbicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonground ginger
• 1 teaspoonground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoonground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoonground nutmeg
• a pinch of salt

Glaze

• 150 gicing sugar
• 3 tablespoonscocoa powder
• 2 tablespoonshot water
• 1 teaspoonhoney

To finish

• 80 gpoppy seeds
• or ground cinnamon

Equipment

• a mould with hemisphere hollows
• or a mini muffin tin
• a small knife

Directions

1. Warm the honey gently until it is runny. Do not let the honey get hot at all. Mix it with the sugar and melted butter. Beat the eggs and add them in. Add the soured cream to it as well. Combining it takes only a moment.
2. Mix the flour with all the ground spices. Add the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Whisk them together thoroughly. Add the wet mixture to the flour. Bring it together into a soft dough. It should be soft but not sticky. Add a little flour if it is sticky. Add a spoon of cream if it crumbles.
3. Wrap the dough and refrigerate it. Give it at least one full hour. Warm dough spreads and loses the form. Shaping the caps takes a mould. Grease all of the hollows well. Press a ball of dough into each hollow. Fill it about three quarters full. Shaping the stems is done by hand. Roll small pieces into short thick fingers.
4. Make them slightly thicker at one end. Aim for about three centimetres long. Set them all out on a lined tray. Keep them all to a similar size. Baking them takes little time.
5. Heat the oven to 180C before baking. Bake the caps for about twelve minutes. Bake the stems for about eight minutes. They are done when firm and lightly coloured. Let them cool in the mould for five minutes. Let them cool completely before assembly. Warm biscuits break when you drill them. Take one of the fully cooled caps.
6. Twist the point of a small knife into the flat side. Make a hollow, not a hole right through. Go about halfway into the cap. Work slowly so it does not crack. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa together. Add the spoonful of honey to it. Add hot water a teaspoon at a time.
7. Stir it into a thick smooth glaze. It should coat the back of a spoon thickly. Add more icing sugar if it is loose. Dip the end of a stem into the glaze. Hold it for a few seconds to set. Set it upside down to firm up.
8. Let the joint set for ten minutes. Dip the domed top of each cap in the glaze. Twist it round as you lift it out. Let all of the excess drip off. Set them stem upwards on a rack. Let the glaze set completely firm. Dip the free end of each stem in glaze. The seeds stick to the wet glaze. Stand them up like a cluster of mushrooms. They keep three weeks in a tin.

Technique

• Each biscuit is made in two parts, a rounded cap baked in a hollow mould and a separate stem baked flat, joined afterwards with the glaze holding them together.
• The cap is dipped in dark cocoa glaze for the mushroom top and the stem end in poppy seed, which reads as soil clinging to the base.
• It is a honey and spice dough closely related to gingerbread, raised with bicarbonate of soda, and the honey keeps it soft for weeks.

Substitutions

• A mini muffin tin stands in for a hemisphere mould, giving a slightly deeper cap.
• Ground cinnamon can replace poppy seed on the stem ends.

Variations

• Some bakers press the hollow into the cap before baking with a skewer.
• The spice mix varies from household to household.
• A version glazed with white icing and cocoa speckles is also made.

History

A Lithuanian festive bake, the caps dipped in dark glaze and the stems in poppy seed.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grybukai?

Grybukai is a snack from Lithuania: spiced biscuits shaped and glazed to look like little mushrooms. A Lithuanian festive bake, the caps dipped in dark glaze and the stems in poppy seed.

How long does Grybukai take to make?

Grybukai takes 1 hour 30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 40 mushrooms. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Grybukai?

Yes, within limits. A mini muffin tin stands in for a hemisphere mould, giving a slightly deeper cap. Ground cinnamon can replace poppy seed on the stem ends.

What is the most important thing to get right in Grybukai?

Warm the honey gently until it is runny. Do not let the honey get hot at all. Mix it with the sugar and melted butter. Beat the eggs and add them in. Add the soured cream to it as well. Combining it takes only a moment.