Medenjaci – Croatian honey cakes
It’s that time of the year where many home cooks are about to embark on a little spot of festive cookery. The choice of traditional sweets seem endless in the lead-up to Christmas, should you choose to embrace it, and in the Croatian household just one type of cake or cookie will never cut it. It’s all about multiple choice when peering down on a cakes plate at a teta’s or baka’s place.
I may be a tad bah humbug when it comes to tinsel, trees and faux snow, but nothing is to stop me from indulging in a bit of Croatian baking to sweeten my teeth just a little more.
Delectables like breskvice, oblatne, čokoladna salama and kiflice almost always make it to the cakes plate, so here I have another sweetie to add to the collection.
Medenjaci, or honey cakes, fall into the same family as pfeffernüsse and honey jumbles. Light, moist, fluffy and cake-like, they contain spices, a good dose of honey and a thin icing. Traditionally the icing is quite runny before it sets into an opaque crust, which is fine, but I prefer it with more substance. I also prefer to spice-up the batter a lot more and use muscovado sugar rather than regular white. Better depth of flavour and it’s less processed.
And unlike pfeffernüsse that need to sit and soften for a few days before eating, these medenjači are ready to eat as soon as the icing has set. Bonus!
Ingredients
Icing
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- Heat the honey and butter until melted. Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, muscovado sugar, bicarb, and spices. Using your hands or a whisk, mix well to break down any lumps. Lightly beat the egg and yolks and add to the flour mixture along with the honey.
- Mix together with your fingertips until a dough forms, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently for a few minutes, adding a little more flour it the dough is too sticky. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for half an hour.
- Preheat oven to 180°C>
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll tablespoons of it into balls. Place them onto a lined baking tray, leaving room between for spreading. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool completely before icing.
- For the icing, place the sifted icing sugar and egg whites into a mixing bowl. Gently whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the icing is smooth. Dip the top of each cookie into the icing, place onto a rack and allow the icing to set.
- If you want to decorate further, add more sifted icing to the one you just used, making it a thicker consistency. Pipe any pattern you wish over the cookies and allow to set completely before storing in sealed containers.
