Gingerbread (perníčky) from a Water Bath

recipe

Gingerbread (perníčky) from a Water Bath

The name of this gingerbread recipe may look somewhat mysterious, but there is nothing to fear.

These gingerbread (perníčky) belong to the darker variants, especially if we use very dark cocoa. They are more modest in honey content, but more flavorful with a larger amount of gingerbread spice and added cinnamon.

We can bake gingerbread (perníčky) from this dough right away, but if we let it rest overnight in the cold, it won't harm it. However, we must carefully wrap it in a plastic bag or food wrap.

Although we can bake from this dough immediately, we must consider that preparing the dough is more time-consuming this time and also requires at least minimal experience in working with a water bath.

In particular, care must be taken to add the eggs to the lukewarm mixture. At a higher temperature, they could easily curdle.

The dough processes well and is dark thanks to the cocoa. Despite the recipe containing a smaller amount of honey, it initially sticks a bit when finishing on the board.

Benefits

  • gingerbread (perníčky) don't deform during baking
  • suitable even for very intricate shapes
  • suitable for assembled motifs as well

Ingredients 

  • 500 g plain wheat flour
  •  200 g powder sugar
  • 2 tablespoon of cocoa
  • 1 tablespoon of gingerbread spice
  •  1 coffee spoon of cinnamon
  • 1 coffee spoon of baking soda 
  •  3 tablespoon of honey
  • 3 tablespoon of butter
  • 2 whole eggs  

Preparation procedure

  • We prepare the water bath by pouring hot water into a suitable pot and placing a bowl with sugar, butter, and honey on top of it. Heat on a low flame and stir.
  • The hot water carefully heats the ingredients, which combine into a fine lukewarm mass when mixed, to which we then add eggs. In particular, care must be taken to add the eggs to the lukewarm mixture. At a higher temperature, they could easily curdle. Let the mixture cool down.
  • While the mixture cools, we prepare all the dry ingredients in another bowl - flour, cocoa, gingerbread spice, and baking soda.
  • After cooling, pour the honey mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and process the dough. First with a wooden spoon and then finish by hand on a board.
  • Roll out portions of the dough into a sheet approximately 5 mm thick and economically cut out the desired shapes.

  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C.

Tips from my experience

  • Add eggs in the water bath to the lukewarm mixture of honey, butter, and sugar. Stir until smooth.
  • I don't recommend brushing the gingerbread (perníčky) with beaten egg before baking. After baking, it is a common phenomenon that the gingerbread (perníčky) are "wrinkled."
  • You can bake from the dough immediately, but it is necessary to shape it gently and in smaller portions.

My Recommendation

This dough is suitable for smaller and medium-sized motifs, which can be quite intricate, such as animals, flowers, snowflakes. When baking, the dough holds its shape well and doesn't deform.

We can also leave the dough to rest for several days without worry, but because it hardens quite a bit in the cold, this time it needs to be taken out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.

The dough also bakes together very well; we can successfully use it for various assembled motifs.

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