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December 3. – Danish Christmas cookie – honey cake
Today, I’ll share a recipe for a Danish Christmas classic.
In Danish, we call the cookies “honningkager,” which translates to “honey cakes,” but really, they are “honey cookies.”
This recipe is for cookies cut into shapes.
It is similar to gingerbread cookies, and you can use the same ingredients – or try the Danish spice version.
I’ve tried A LOT of recipes for “honningkager” – some of them take MONTHS to prepare.
The one I tried last year was NOT worth all the work – but I might try another time-consuming recipe another year.
This recipe is one of two that I will share with you, and it only takes two days.
It is hard to add flavour when making royal icing with egg whites and sugar without making the icing runny.
I’m not too fond of the taste of powdered sugar.
It tastes way too sweet in a strange artificial way – according to my tastebuds.
And the icing doesn’t do anything good for the taste – it just looks pretty.
But I add something to my royal icing – just a tiny amount of citric acid – to balance the sweetness.
Christian likes to experiment with regular icing.
He likes to mix jam and icing sugar or elderflower syrup and icing sugar.
The last mix gives the best icing – the first one is too lumpy for me.
Which flavours do you like?
Do you have any tips for great tasting combinations?
I recommend that you save a part of the dough for later.
You can use it as decoration on top of Gingerbread cupcakes – if you want to.
Danish Christmas cookie - honey cake - takes 2 days
Ingredienser - Ingredients
Wet:
- 1 small egg
- 100 g Muscovado or brown sugar
- 125 g real honey
Dry:
- 250 g flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1½-2 tsp honningkage spice mix* or gingerbread spices
Royal icing:
- 1 pasteurized egg white
- Powdered sugar
- 0-¼ tsp Citric acid
- food coloring - gel or powder
- sugar decorations
Instructions
Day 1:
- Melt the honey in the microwave for 30 sec or melt it in a pot.
- Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the melted honey.
- Mix flour, spices, and baking soda in a bowl, add the egg mix, and stir it with a spoon.
- Place the dough in a plastic bag. Store it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 12 hours.
Day 2:
- Turn the oven on - 160°C fan oven (320°F). Put a baking tray in the middle of the oven.
- Place the dough on a piece of baking paper, with another piece on top - so the dough does not stick to the rolling pin. You can put a little flour on the table and over the dough. Remember that too much flour changes the texture and flavour of the cakes. To prepare the dough, flatten it using a rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of 3-4 millimeters.
- Use cutters of various shapes and cut as many cookies as you can. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and ensure they are the same size - so small cookies on one baking sheet and large cookies on another.
- Gather the rest of the dough and continue the rolling and cutting out. Place the dough in the refrigerator if it becomes too warm and difficult to work with. Or gather the rest of the dough and make a roll, which you can slice and bake another day.
- Bake the cookies in the middle of the oven for 6-8 minutes; watch them. The cookies are pretty soft when you take them out of the oven.
Royal icing:
- Stir a lump-free icing with the egg white and powdered sugar (+ a little citric acid). You can divide the icing into smaller portions and colour it.
- Fill the icing in a cornet of baking paper or use a small freezer bag and cut the corner off.
- Decorate the cookies with icing and sugar decorations.
Storing:
- Store the honey cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 tsp. dried orange peel
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground allspice
Egne noter - private notes
Bruger du US Customary, vær opmærksom på, at opskriften er lavet metrisk, og omregnet via et plugin.
If you use US Customary, remember that the recipe is made using Metric and converted via a plugin.
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