Pardubický perník

Ingredients

The dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 ghoney
• 100 gsugar
• 80 gbutter
• 2eggs
• 1 teaspoonbicarbonate of soda
• a pinch of salt

The spice mix

• 2 teaspoonsground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonground cloves
• 1 teaspoonground star anise
• 1 teaspoonground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoonground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoonground ginger
• grated zest of 1 lemon

To finish

• 1egg, beaten
• for glazing
• plum jam, to fill
• royal icing, to decorate

To bake

• a hot oven
• lined trays
• cutters

Directions

1. Keep the others in supporting roles. Do not substitute baking powder. Warm the honey, sugar and butter together. Do not let it come to a boil at all. Warm it only until it is smooth. Let the honey mixture cool considerably. Hot mixture scrambles the eggs.
2. Let it cool right down to just warm. Mixing the dry is the next step. Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the bicarbonate, salt and spices. Add the grated lemon zest to them. Stir them together thoroughly. The bicarbonate must be evenly spread. Whisk the dry mixture properly. Beat the eggs into the cooled honey. Pour that into the flour mixture.
3. Bring it together into a dough. It is a stiff dough rather than soft. Knead it briefly until smooth. Do not overwork the dough at all. Wrap the dough well and refrigerate it.
4. Rest it for as long as you can. Take the dough out to soften a little. Roll it out on a floured surface. Roll it about half a centimetre thick. Thicker pieces stay soft in the middle. Let it sit out for twenty minutes. Do not warm the dough up in an oven.
5. Cut shapes out with your cutters. Set them on lined baking trays. Leave a small gap between them. They do not need very much room. Brush them all with the beaten egg. It also helps decoration stick later.
6. Brush it on thinly and evenly. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Bake them for about ten minutes. Watch them from eight minutes on. Take them out of the oven slightly early. Lift them out onto a wire rack. Let all of them cool completely. Move them carefully while warm.
7. Let all of the icing dry completely. Give it a good several hours to dry. Let it set hard before storing. Serving them is done with coffee or tea. Set them all out on a serving plate. They keep for months in a sealed tin.

Technique

• Traditional perník dough is rested for weeks and sometimes months, which mellows and combines the spices, softens the dough and deepens the flavour — it is a genuine practice rather than a convenience. A day or two helps a great deal and a week more still; the atlas gives the shorter route while saying plainly what the tradition is.
• Bicarbonate of soda rather than baking powder is the raising agent here: it reacts with the acid in the honey to give both the lift and the characteristic dark colour, along with the faintly alkaline taste expected in gingerbread. Whisk it evenly through the flour, since a pocket of it tastes soapy and bitter.
• Let the warmed honey, sugar and butter cool to just warm before the eggs go in, since a hot mixture scrambles them and activates the bicarbonate early. And never let that mixture boil — warm it only until smooth.

Substitutions

• Store the baked pieces with a slice of apple, which releases moisture slowly so the gingerbread absorbs it and softens over a few days; change the apple every few days. Fresh perník is quite hard and improves considerably with keeping.
• Sandwiching two pieces with plum jam softens them faster as the moisture works through; they are best after a day or two.

Variations

• Pardubice has baked gingerbread since the sixteenth century and the name holds EU protected status, tying it to the place and to defined methods.
• Watch them from eight minutes, since gingerbread bakes fast and honey caramelises quickly; take them out slightly soft, as they firm up considerably on cooling and overbaked ones go rock hard.
• Cinnamon should lead the spice mix, with clove and star anise kept in supporting roles since they dominate if overused.

History

Pardubice has baked gingerbread since the sixteenth century and holds EU protected status for it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pardubický perník?

Pardubický perník is a snack from Czechia: dark honey gingerbread from Pardubice, decorated or filled with jam. Pardubice has baked gingerbread since the sixteenth century and holds EU protected status for it.

How long does Pardubický perník take to make?

Pardubický perník takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pardubický perník?

Yes, within limits. Store the baked pieces with a slice of apple, which releases moisture slowly so the gingerbread absorbs it and softens over a few days; change the apple every few days. Fresh perník is quite hard and improves considerably with keeping. Sandwiching two pieces with plum jam softens them faster as the moisture works through; they are best after a day or two.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pardubický perník?

Keep the others in supporting roles. Do not substitute baking powder. Warm the honey, sugar and butter together. Do not let it come to a boil at all. Warm it only until it is smooth. Let the honey mixture cool considerably. Hot mixture scrambles the eggs.