THE FESTIVAL CARNET
Honey Gingerbread
A gingerbread with honey prepared with a whisk, with the gestures and quantities explained to make a Christmas cake at home.
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This gingerbread combines honey, brown sugar, milk, butter and an egg in a dough mixed by hand. It remains deliberately simple: no mounting, no icing and a night of rest after cooling to cut it more easily.
This house listing responds to searches for mellow gingerbread or "grandma's" recipe, without claiming a historical family recipe. The quantities and stages present on the site are kept and explained.
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The preparation step by step
Weighing and preparing the mold
Weigh 250 g of flour, 200 g of honey, 80 g of brown sugar, 50 g of butter, 10 g of baking powder and 6 g of sweet four spices. Measure 150 ml of milk and prepare 1 pinch of salt and 1 egg. Tape a cake mould of 24 cm of baking paper, passing the paper on the two large sides to facilitate the demoulding. Turn on the oven at 160 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan), with an oven rack in the middle.
Gently melt the honey mixture
Pour the 150 ml of milk into a small saucepan, then add the 200 g of honey, the 80 g of brown sugar and the 50 g of butter cut into pieces. Heat over low heat, stirring with a spatula for 3 to 5 minutes. Stop as soon as the butter is melted and the sugar no longer forms small visible grains; the mixture must be homogeneous, without boiling.
Let cool before adding the egg
Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you use a thermometer, wait until it is below 40°C. Meanwhile prepare the dry ingredients and egg in the following steps. Do not pour the egg into the hot mixture: it would form small pieces cooked.
Beat the egg in a small bowl
Break the egg on the worktop, open the shell over a small bowl and check that no chips have fallen into it. Beat him with a fork for about twenty seconds to combine white and yolks. When the honey liquid has cooled sufficiently, pour the beaten egg into it and whisk until it is fully incorporated.
Spread baking powder and spices in flour
Pour the 250 g of flour, the 10 g of baking powder, the 6 g of four-spice and the pinch of salt into a large bowl. Mix with a dry whisk for 20 to 30 seconds, going all the way to the bottom and sides. Crush the small clumps of baking powder with the back of a spoon or pass the mixture in a strainer. This distribution avoids a very spicy bite or a concentrated baking powder taste.
Add liquids several times
Make a hollow in the center of the dry ingredients with a spoon. Pour about a third of the honey mixture into this trough and start whipping in the center, gradually bringing back some flour. Add the rest of the liquid twice and continue only until the traces of flour disappear. Scrape the bottom and walls with a spatula; the dough should be thick but run from the whisk into a wide ribbon.
Pour and equalize the dough
Pour all the dough into the prepared pan by scraping the bowl with the spatula. Spread it to both ends, then coarsely smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. The mould should not be filled to the brim: the dough will swell. Place it in the middle of the oven rack, without sticking it to the wall of the oven.
Monitor cooking without opening too early
Cook for 45 to 55 minutes at 160 °C. Avoid opening the oven for the first 35 minutes, when the dough is still fixing. If the top already becomes very dark while the center is not cooked, put a sheet of baking paper on top, without letting it touch a heating element. A slit on the top is normal for this cake.
Check the heart of gingerbread
From 45 minutes, stick a wooden skewer or blade of a small knife in the center of the thickest part. It should come out without liquid paste; some wet crumbs are acceptable. If a shiny paste sticks to it, put the cake back in the oven for 5 minutes and then check again in the same place. The time indicated is a marker, the actual cooking depends on the mold and the oven.
Unmold without breaking the cake
Remove the mold with oven gloves and place it on a heat-resistant surface. Wait 15 minutes before lifting the cake through the two strips of baking paper. Place it on a wire rack, then gently spread the paper from the sides. Let it cool for about 2 hours, until the underside and center are also cold.
Pack and slice the next day
Once the gingerbread is completely cold, wrap it or place it in an airtight box to preserve its softness. Ideally wait one night before cutting: the aromas are distributed and the slices are better. Then place it on a board and use a bread knife in back-and-forth motions, without crushing the top with the palm.
Conservation. Let it cool completely, then keep the cake 3 days in an airtight box, in a cool and dry room. For longer storage, freezes slices packaged separately; defrosts only the useful amount. It is not a long-lasting product.
Recipe proposal with quantities and step by step. Times vary depending on the material: follow also the markers of texture and cooking.
The benchmarks for success
Choose the right mold
The indicated format counts as much as the temperature. In a shorter, deeper mold, the heart will cook more slowly; in a very large mold, the crumb will dry faster. Keep at least 3 cm free under the edge and cook any surplus separately.
Mixing just what is needed
Once the flour is moist, stop the whisk as soon as the white piping bag have disappeared. A long mixture does not make this cake lighter and can tighten its crumb. Especially the bottom of the bowl with the spatula.
Judge cooking at heart
The color of the ingredients and the material of the mold change the browning. A dark crust does not prove that the center is cooked: always check with a spike planted in the thickest part.
Questions Before You Start
Can we prepare it the day before?
Yeah. Wait until the cake is cold before packing. One night helps the crumb to cut and let the aromas spread; it does not allow to keep it for several weeks.
Why does the center seem sticky?
A hot cut cake may look gummy. Let it cool completely. If there is some shiny paste left on the skewer during the oven control, extend the cooking in sequences of 5 minutes before taking it out.
Do I need to add an ice cream?
Nope. The recipe and its illustration present the cake without icing. The dough already brings its fragrance; serve the cake as is, once completely cooled.
Is this a Marmiton recipe?
Nope. This sheet is a proposal specific to CakeChristmas. If you are looking for a specific recipe published on Marmiton, consult its author and its proportions on the original site; this version claims neither the name nor the tests.
How to make a gingerbread with Thermomix?
This method is manual. For a guided preparation on Thermomix, Cookidoo's official "Gingerbread" recipe describes its compatible models and its own ingredients. Do not randomly transpose speeds or temperatures from this plug: the proportions are different. Use one of the two recipes from start to finish.
Where can I find the official Thermomix version?
The Cookidoo sheet is available at https://cookidoo.fr/recipes/recipe/en-US/r90477. Access to the guided stages may require an account. Here, the step by step whisk remains available in its entirety.
Baking tips for this recipe
- Preheat the oven according to the plug and prepare the mold before mixing the last ingredients.
- Uses the dimensions and cooking mode indicated: a higher or wider mold changes the cooking of the center.
- Follow the visual cues of step by step in addition to the duration. Respect the intended cooling before unmoulding or decorating.
Substitutions and variations
You can choose a sweeter or more full-bodied honey, keeping the indicated amount. Replacing honey with dry sugar, on the other hand, requires a review of the recipe.
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