Paprenjak

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 200 ghoney
• 100 gsugar
• 100 gbutter
• 1egg
• 80 gground walnuts
• 1 tspbicarbonate of soda

Spice

• 2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 1 tspcinnamon
• 1 tspground clove
• 1 tspground nutmeg
• 1 tspground ginger

Equipment

• a carved wooden biscuit mould, or a patterned stamp

To serve

• with coffee, or as a gift

Directions

1. Grind the pepper fresh and use two full teaspoons, which will feel like too much and is correct. Warm the honey, sugar and butter together in a pan until melted and smooth, then take it off the heat. Do not let the honey boil, which darkens it and turns it bitter.
2. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Cool it before the egg goes in, or the egg scrambles into threads. Mix the flour, ground walnuts, bicarbonate and all the spices in a bowl.
3. Combine the warm honey mixture with the dry ingredients and the egg into a firm dough. The dough should be stiff, dense and slightly sticky, closer to a gingerbread than to a shortbread.
4. Roll the dough out to about 7 mm thick on a lightly floured surface. Roll it thicker than an ordinary biscuit. Thin paprenjak snaps and the carved pattern is lost.
5. Dust the mould with flour first and tap out the excess, or the dough sticks and the pattern tears. Press hard and evenly. Cut around each stamped shape and set them on lined trays.
6. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 12 to 15 minutes until firm and lightly darkened. They will still feel soft when they come out and they harden considerably as they cool, which is expected.
7. Cool them completely on a rack. A paprenjak is a keeping biscuit and it is not a soft one, and it is often dunked in coffee or wine.

Technique

• Carved wooden moulds are sold as souvenirs in Croatia and are the traditional tool.
• The recipe is documented from the sixteenth century, which is unusually early for a biscuit.
• Some versions use no walnuts, and the pepper is the only constant.

Substitutions

• A patterned rolling pin or a springerle mould.
• Ground almonds or hazelnuts in place of walnuts.

Variations

• Made softer, with more honey.
• Glazed with a thin sugar icing.
• With more pepper still, as the older recipes have it.

History

A Croatian biscuit documented since the sixteenth century; pepper once signalled wealth and trade with Venice.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paprenjak?

Paprenjak is a dessert from Croatia: hard honey and black pepper biscuit stamped with folk patterns. A Croatian biscuit documented since the sixteenth century; pepper once signalled wealth and trade with Venice.

How long does Paprenjak take to make?

Paprenjak takes 30 min plus 2 hr chilling of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 40 biscuits. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Paprenjak?

Yes, within limits. A patterned rolling pin or a springerle mould. Ground almonds or hazelnuts in place of walnuts.

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

Grind the pepper fresh and use two full teaspoons, which will feel like too much and is correct. Warm the honey, sugar and butter together in a pan until melted and smooth, then take it off the heat. Do not let the honey boil, which darkens it and turns it bitter.