Polish Piernik – Christmas Gingerbread Cake Layered with Marzipan

Delicious Christmas gingerbread without maturing – well known in Poland. Very moist and unique due to the thick layer of marzipan, jam and chocolate. It can stand for a few days, so you can easily bake it 2 days before Christmas Eve. If you are looking for a recipe for the perfect gingerbread (Polish Piernik) for the holidays at the last minute, you have come to the right place 😉. This gingerbread is best baked in a small rectangular tin. But you can also bake it in a round cake tin or any other form.

Recipe modifications:

• Sugar: If you use regular white sugar, caramelize it first. Pour the sugar into a saucepan first and heat over medium/low heat. Do not stir! Caramel without water is not stirred to prevent lumps from forming. Be careful not to burn the sugar. When amber caramel begins to form, add the honey. You can gently shake the saucepan to avoid burning the sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Fat inhibits caramelization. After adding butter, the sugar will not burn. If you have it at home, you can replace some of the sugar with molasses. It will add a deep caramel flavor.
  Gingerbread with regular white, uncaramelized sugar will also work, but it will not have such a deep flavor and aroma.
• Flour: You can use only wheat flour or only rye flour. I use a mixture of both. Thanks to rye flour, the gingerbread gains a deeper flavor and stays fresh for longer. Wheat flour contains more gluten, which is why the dough is fluffier. Traditionally, gingerbread is baked only with rye flour, but it is increasingly being replaced with wheat flour. I use a mix in proportions of 2:1. You can bake this gingerbread with both wheat and rye flour. It all depends on your preferences. You can also use wholemeal flour. The gingerbread will then contain more fiber and have an even more interesting structure.
• Marzipan: You can use ready-made marzipan mass or prepare it from my recipe – click for Marzipan recipe. Marzipan mass made of walnuts instead of almonds will also work for gingerbread. I add a lot of marzipan to this gingerbread, as much as 500g, but you can use less, e.g. 200-400g, or skip it altogether.
• Plum jam: You can replace it with any jam, e.g. black currant or orange. Check my recipe for homemade plum butter.
• Orange marmalade: instead of orange jam, you can add blackcurrant jam, cherry jam or plum jam to the cake. You can also add just orange peel, but adding jam or jam makes the cake very moist.
• Alcohol: you can skip the alcohol. You can also replace whiskey with plum brandy, mead, cognac or any high-proof alcohol.
• Chocolate: if you want your gingerbread to be VERY aromatic, you can add a bit of spice to the chocolate icing. It is best to use dark chocolate with approx. 50-60% cocoa.
• Gingerbread spice: use good quality gingerbread spice (100% spice). Avoid mixtures with flour and sugar. The more spice in the spice, the more aromatic your gingerbread will be. You can also prepare your own Gingerbread Spice Mix from my recipe.

The proportions given below make a large gingerbread weighing approx. 2.5 kg.
Read the step-by-step recipe on how to make a delicious Polish Piernik for Christmas and watch the video below the recipe.
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Polish Piernik – Christmas Gingerbread Cake Layered with Marzipan

Delicious, aromatic gingerbread with marzipan and jam. Without maturing. Moist and aromatic. The best cake for Christmas.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Baking 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine Polish

Servings 15 portions

Calories 587 kcal

Polish Piernik Layered with Marzipan and Jam Recipe

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

0.5x1x2x3x

Cake

• ▢ 100 g butter
• ▢ 3 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 150 g dark brown sugar (or a white sugar that you caramelize)
• ▢ 250 g honey
• ▢ 3 tbsp gingerbread spice mix
• ▢ 1 tbsp cocoa
• ▢ ½ – 1 tsp instant coffee (optional)
• ▢ 250 ml milk
• ▢ 12 g vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring)
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 180 g wheat flour
• ▢ 90 g rye flour
• ▢ 1 – 2 tbsp orange marmalade (optional)
• ▢ 50 g whisky (or other alcohol)
• ▢ 1 tsp baking soda
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 tsp salt

Additionally

• ▢ 500 g marzipan
• ▢ 350 g plum jam
• ▢ 200 g dark chocolate
• ▢ 200 ml heavy cream
• ▢ nuts / candied peels (for decoration)

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Instructions

 

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• Pour honey and alcohol into a saucepan, add sugar and spices. Start heating so that the sugar and honey caramelize. After a while, add the rest of the ingredients. Heat until the butter melts and all the ingredients are combined. Set aside to cool.
  100 g butter, 3 tbsp olive oil, 150 g dark brown sugar, 250 g honey, 3 tbsp gingerbread spice mix, 1 tbsp cocoa, ½ – 1 tsp instant coffee, 12 g vanilla sugar, 50 g whisky
  
• Transfer the cooled mixture to the mixing bowl, add the milk, eggs and jam. Be careful not to let the eggs curdle. Mix. Add the sifted dry ingredients and salt. Mix for a few minutes until the ingredients are mixed and the dough is smooth. You can do this with a mixer or a whisk.
  250 ml milk, 2 eggs, 180 g wheat flour, 90 g rye flour, 1 – 2 tbsp orange marmalade, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
  
• Pour the batter into a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in an oven preheated to 180 ° C (356 °F). Bake for approx. 55 minutes. Set the baked gingerbread aside to cool completely.
  
• Heat the cream and add the broken chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts and set aside to cool.
  200 ml heavy cream, 200 g dark chocolate
  
• When the cake has cooled, cut it lengthwise into 3 parts. Place the marzipan mass on the first part. Cover with the second part. Spread with jam and cover with the third part. Drizzle with chocolate. You can sprinkle the top of the gingerbread with chopped nuts, almonds, candied citrus peel, candied ginger or crushed Christmas lollipops. Put the gingerbread in the fridge so that the chocolate sets well. Enjoy!
  500 g marzipan, 350 g plum jam, nuts / candied peels
  

Video

Watch how to make homemade Gingerbread Piernik for Christmas step by step video.

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Nutrition

Serving: 100gCalories: 345kcal (17%)Carbohydrates: 46g (15%)Protein: 5g (11%)Fat: 17g (26%)Saturated Fat: 7g (44%)Trans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 34mg (11%)Sodium: 175mg (8%)Potassium: 198mg (6%)Fiber: 3g (12%)Sugar: 31g (34%)Vitamin A: 262IU (5%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Vitamin D: 1µg (4%)Vitamin E: 3mg (20%)Vitamin K: 3µg (3%)Calcium: 68mg (7%)Iron: 2mg (13%)Manganese: 1mg (29%)Magnesium: 56mg (14%)Zinc: 1mg (4%)Folic Acid: 11µg

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

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