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Ingredients needed:
- rye flour (or wheat flour) - preferably whole-grain organic - 28.2 onces (800 grams)
- baking soda - 1 teaspoon
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- spices mix - 9 table spoons in the next proportion:
- coriander - 30%
- cinnamon - 20%
- anise - 10%
- dry ginger - 10 %
- cardamon - 10%
- allspice - 10%
- nutmeg - 5%
- cloves - 5%
It's better to take whole spices and grind them in a small mill.
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- natural honey (any kind) - 17.6 oz (500 grams)
- butter (unsalted) - 4.2 oz (120 grams)
- black molasses - 3 tablespoons
And, of course, cookie molds!
For icing:
- white sugar - 3.5 oz (100 grams)
- water - 50 ml
A wide brush to apply icing.
What you do NOT need:
- Bad mood, irritation, complaints, etc. - you are cooking for your loved ones! You trasnfer your mood to the food you make, and it affects the food's taste (verified by experience).
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Here we go...
Grind the spices. Pranik in Russian means "spicy" (even though the word originally comes from word prana, the Universal Energy, in Sanskrit).
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Put the spices to be ground in your mill.
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You will always find helpers, eager to taste your honey-cakes as soon as possible.
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Put the ground spices in a glass jar, close it and thoroughly mix by shaking.
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Then make the syrup: you will need the butter, honey and molasses. |
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Put a pan with butter on mid-hot fire and wait till butter completely melts.
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Once the butter becomes liquid, add honey and molasses. If you use crystallized honey, wait for it to dissolve, but do not let the syrup boil or the honey will loose much of its qualities and aroma. |
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The syrup should be completely liquid, without pieces of honey - like this. |
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While you honey is melting, do not waste time:
the helpers finish whatever is left of molasses...
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...and you mix flour for the dough.
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Add spices to the flour and mix thoroughly. It will smell very good. Meanwhile, the honey has dissolved and the syrup is ready.
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Before adding the syrup to the flour/spices mix, test it: if your finger is not too hot, you can pour the syrup into the flour. But if your finger is hot, can you imagine what the flour would feel? A hot syrup can boil the flour (as well as your finger :) |
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After you added the syrup to the flour, mix thoroughly, first with a spoon, then with hands.
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You will end up having a uniform dough which is soft to touch, plastic and not sticking to your hands - similar to the crafting clay.
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Now pick the cookie mold from your collection. Which praniks would you prefer this time?
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Grease a large tray with butter and turn your oven on to preheat it to 430 degrees F (= 220 degrees Celcius).
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Thoroughly grease your molds with butter (or the dough will stick to it). It is handy to use a toothbrush specially kept for this purpose.
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Take a piece of dough, form a solid ball in your fingers and squeeze it into the mold. The dough should be on the same level as the edge of the carved area of the mold.
Kids enjoy this part of process greatly and can be of great help!
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Attention! You assist to the birth of a honey-cake. Carefully pry it with your finger and take it out of the mold.
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Here comes the beautiful one.
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Put it on a tray and make more cakes until there's no more dough. With some practice (which you will certainly have once your family tasted your honey-cakes) you will make them in a matter of minutes.
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Put the tray into the stove for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the cakes.
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And wait...
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In 15 minutes make a new test: prick a cake with a match. If the match comes out dry, the cakes are ready.
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The design should be brown and distinct from the paler background.
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However, it is too early to go fetch your cups ad kettle. Make icing.
Put a pot with water and sugar on hot fire. Bring it to boiling.
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The syrup should boil until it thickens. When you pour it from the spoon, it must make a long string.
When you get this string, remove the pot from fire and act quickly as the syrup turns into icing VERY FAST.
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Take the brush and carefully but quickly apply syrup all over the cakes. Put a fair amount of syrup on each cake but not too much, so that the design on the cake stays visible.
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As you quickly proceed applying syrup to the cakes, it turns into icing before your eyes.
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Done!
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Go fetch cups and kettle. Your helpers are impatient! ENJOY!
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The above is Irina Sharashkina's own recipe of traditional Russian 
