Medovníky

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 200 ghoney
• 150 gcaster sugar
• 100 gbutter
• 2eggs
• 2 teaspoonsbicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonground cloves
• 1 teaspoonground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoonground star anise
• 1/2 teaspoonground ginger
• zest of 1 lemon
• a pinch of salt

Royal icing

• 1egg white
• pasteurised, or 15 g dried albumen
• 250 gicing sugar, sifted
• a few drops lemon juice

To glaze

• 1egg yolk, beaten
• with a little milk

To serve

• at Advent
• given as gifts
• in a tin

Directions

1. Check it regularly if you use one. The spice mix is warm rather than hot. Use pasteurised white if any of them will eat it. It takes real patience and a steady hand. Put the honey, sugar and butter in a pan. Warm them gently until melted together. Warm it just enough to melt everything. Do not let it boil at any point. Take the pan right off the heat.
2. Let it cool until it is warm rather than hot. Hot syrup scrambles the eggs when added. Warm to the touch is about right. Mixing the dry ingredients is straightforward. Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the bicarbonate and all the spices. Add the salt and the lemon zest.
3. Stir them together thoroughly. Bicarbonate must be evenly distributed. Whisk the dry mixture well before combining. Pour the warm honey mixture into the flour. Beat the eggs and add them as well. Bring it together into a soft dough. It is sticky and soft at this stage. Wrap the dough and refrigerate it. Give it at least four full hours.
4. Take the dough out and let it soften a little. Roll it out on a floured surface. Take it down to about half a centimetre. Half a centimetre is about right. Cut shapes with biscuit cutters. Simple shapes take icing better. Keep the shapes fairly simple. Arranging them is straightforward enough.
5. Lift them onto a lined baking tray. A couple of centimetres is enough. Brush them with beaten egg yolk and milk. Brush it on thinly and evenly. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Bake them for about eight to ten minutes. These bake fast because they are thin. Take them out while still slightly soft. Judging them takes a careful look.
6. Take them out just a little early. Leave them on the tray for five minutes. Let them cool right down completely. Icing a warm biscuit melts the icing. Put the egg white in a clean bowl. Add the sifted icing sugar gradually. Beat it until smooth and thick. Add a few drops of lemon juice.
7. Sift it thoroughly before using it. It should hold a soft peak on a spoon. Adjust it with sugar or a drop of water. Pipe a line out onto a cold plate. Adjust it if it spreads at all. Keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth. Royal icing crusts over within minutes. Fill it with all the royal icing. Hold the nozzle just above the surface.
8. Let the icing fall into place rather than dragging it. It takes practice to do neatly. Let the icing dry out completely. Give it at least four full hours. Leave them out on a rack overnight. Layer them in a tin with baking paper. Add a slice of apple if you want them softer. Serving them is done at Advent. Set them out on a serving plate. They keep well for over a month.

Technique

• These are meant to be soft, and they soften over days because honey is hygroscopic and draws moisture from the air; they are baked weeks ahead and are at their best after one or two. A slice of apple in the tin speeds that up, but change it every few days, since an old slice goes mouldy and the mould spreads to the biscuits.
• Traditional royal icing uses raw egg white, which carries a small but real salmonella risk; pasteurised white or dried albumen powder pipes exactly as well and removes it. Use one of those if anyone pregnant, very young or with low immunity will be eating them.
• Take them out of the oven while they still give slightly in the centre, since they firm up as they cool on the tray and a biscuit baked until fully firm goes rock hard permanently.

Substitutions

• Dried albumen powder stands in for egg white in the icing and removes the raw egg question.
• The spice mix varies by household; cinnamon, clove, allspice and star anise are the usual core.

Variations

• Keep the icing bowl under a damp cloth, since royal icing crusts over within minutes and blocks a fine nozzle.
• Simple shapes take the fine piping better than intricate ones.
• Some recipes rest the dough for days, and the flavour deepens noticeably over that time.

History

A Slovak Advent bake, decorated with royal icing and given as gifts.

Frequently asked questions

What is Medovníky?

Medovníky is a snack from Slovakia: soft honey gingerbread iced with fine white piping at Christmas. A Slovak Advent bake, decorated with royal icing and given as gifts.

How long does Medovníky take to make?

Medovníky takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 12 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 40 biscuits. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Medovníky?

Yes, within limits. Dried albumen powder stands in for egg white in the icing and removes the raw egg question. The spice mix varies by household; cinnamon, clove, allspice and star anise are the usual core.

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

Check it regularly if you use one. The spice mix is warm rather than hot. Use pasteurised white if any of them will eat it. It takes real patience and a steady hand. Put the honey, sugar and butter in a pan. Warm them gently until melted together. Warm it just enough to melt everything. Do not let it boil at any point. Take the pan right off the heat.