A classic Polish gingerbread cake recipe, Piernik Staropolski.
My daughter’s 5th grade class was tasked with a “Christmas Around the World” project in Social Studies and of the three countries she chose to research, she was granted Poland. Seeing as though my children share in their father’s half-Polish ancestry, we took to researching traditional Polish Christmas desserts to add to our repertoire of holiday goodies, and decided upon an heirloom gingerbread cake recipe with Christmas jam, a version of the classic Polish Piernik Staropolski recipe.
You can use homemade or store-bought fig or plum jam – just add a pinch of cinnamon, vanilla bean and nutmeg to make your own Christmas version.
After you’ve baked the gingerbread cake and it has cooled, slice the loaf in half lengthwise and spread a generous layer of jam. Carefully put the loaf back together and pour the silky chocolate icing on top. We garnished ours with sugared cranberries for an extra dose of merry measure.
Merry Christmas, or as they’d say in Poland, Wesołych Świąt!
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Recipe adapted from sammyandbella
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus additional 2tbsp, divided
- ½ cup honey
- 4 tbsp butter or ½ stick
- 2 tbsp gingerbread spice mix* Store-bought or see homemade recipe below
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 eggs, white and yolks separated
- 1 ½ cups flour unbleached, all-purpose
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup Christmas jam* See recipe below, or recipe notes for more ideas
- Sugared Cranberries, optional garnish
*Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix, makes more than needed (Combine & Store in Airtight Container)
- 2 tbsp ground allspice
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp ground nutmeg
Chocolate Icing (optional)
- 7 tbsp butter
- 7 tbsp confectioner's sugar
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp hot water
*Homemade Christmas Jam
- Homemade or store-bought plum or fig preserves Add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg & half a vanilla bean. Mix well, taste and adjust to liking.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (177 °C)
- Over low-medium heat, melt only 2 tablespoons of sugar in a heavy bottomed pot until it turns a deep caramel color.
- Lower the heat and add honey, butter, and 2 tablespoons of gingerbread spice. Mix to combine and cool completely.
- Add the milk, remaining sugar, and egg yolks. Stir gently to combine.
- Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa together. Fold into the batter and mix gently, taking care not to overwork the batter.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a medium mixing bowl with electric beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter, folding them in gently. Repeat twice more until all of the egg whites have been gently mixed into the batter.
- Grease a loaf pan (use spray or the butter and flour method) and line the bottom with a piece of well-fitted parchment paper that has been cut to size. Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the loaf to cool and slice it in half lengthwise. Spread the jam generously and evenly on one half of the loaf and carefully put the halves back together.
- For the (optional) Chocolate Glaze:
- Melt butter in a sauce pan.
- Dissolve the confectioner's sugar and stir in the cocoa powder and hot water. Allow the mixture to cool almost completely, stirring occasionally to prevent the butter from separating. The final consistency should still be pourable.
- Over parchment paper (as this can be messy), slowly pour the sauce over the top of the cake, allowing it to spill down the sides.
- Garnish with sugared cranberries, if desired.
Notes
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