recipe & photography by
A N N A WI T KIEW IC Z everyday flavours. blogspot
B
.CO M
y profession, Anna Witkiewicz is a civil engineer who lives in Poland, however she has always been attracted to photography. She perused blogs from around the world admiring culinary photos until one day she decided start her own blog, Everyday Flavours. On her blog you can find many sweet pastries because she likes to photograph them the most. “One of my favorite Christmas traditions that I’ve been cultivating for many years and without which I simply can’t imagine Christmas is getting together with friends and baking all kinds of gingerbreads. The most important thing about those gatherings is not the baking itself but spending that special time of year together, surrounded by friends. We usually meet in the morning, a few days before Christmas Eve, and spend the whole day baking and decorating the cookies. It is hard work as we have to bake enough for everyone to take a sizeable portion to their homes, so we lessen the burden with considerable amounts of gossip and hot tea. The result is always impressive—a whole room jam-packed with full plates of delicious cookies. Later, back at home, I pack the gingerbreads into plastic bags or thread them with ribbons so they can be hung on the Christmas tree, but some get eaten before Christmas comes.”
Pepparkakor
makes about 60 cookies
5 ounces butter 5 ounces treacle 3 ½ ounces brown sugar 2 ounces dark Muscavado sugar 1 /5 cup milk 2 cups all-purpose flour 4 ½ ounces whole meal flour ½ teaspoon baking powder 2 medium eggs 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 teaspoons ground cloves 3 teaspoons ground ginger
5 cardamon seeds 1 teaspoon ground pepper ½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg 1 white egg 1- 1 ½ cup caster sugar For the cookies 1. Put the butter, molasses, milk and brown sugar and Muscavado in a pot. Place the pot on medium heat and stir often until the sugar and butter dissolve. Leave to cool down. Place both types of flour, baking powder and spices in a bowl, add the cooled mass and eggs. Knead the dough
by hand or in a food processor and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour. 2. Preheat the oven to 350° F., Roll out the dough thin and cut into different shapes. Then place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely then ice. For the icing 1. When the gingerbread cools prepare the frosting. Place the egg white and caster sugar into your food processor set to medium speed and mix until it gets snow-white.