Danish Honey Hearts | Honninghjerter
A traditional gingerbread from Denmark that is made with dough that ferments for a month before baking. The cookies are then baked and decorated with chocolate and glossy pictures of St. Nicholas.
Ingredients
- 250 g honey, warmed ¾ cup
- 250 g all-purpose flour 2 cups
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon baker's ammonia (hartshorn salt)
- 1 teaspoon potassium carbonate (potash)
- 2 tablespoons cold water + possibly a little extra
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- ½ tsp star anise, ground
- ½ tsp ginger, ground
- ½ tsp cloves, ground
- ½ tsp allspice, ground
- the zest of one orange
- 150 g dark chocolate 5½ ounces
Instructions
1 month before baking
- Heat the honey to around 95℉ / 35℃, so that it is soft and easy to mix with the flour. Knead the warm honey and flour together well in a bowl until it is a smooth dough.
- Line the bottom of a container with parchment paper and put the dough in and cover it with a lid. Store it in a cool kitchen cupboard for about a month.
1 month later
- Remove the fermented dough from the container and grate it with a box grater or with a food processor. Stir in the spices and orange peel.
- Put the egg yolk in a ramekin and stir the baker's ammonia into the yolk. In a separate ramekin, stir the potash together with the 2 tablespoons of water. Add them both to the dough.
- Knead the dough until all the ingredients are well-combined. This may take a while if you are kneading it by hand. Add 1-2 tbsp. cold water if necessary. It helps to knead it on a very well-floured surface.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of about ¼" or 6 mm on a floured work surface. Cut out large hearts using cookie cutters.
- Roll the remaining dough together and roll them out again, repeat the cutting until there is no more dough left.
- Put the honey hearts on a baking sheet with baking paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 350℉ / 180 ℃ for about 10-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them. They should not turn brown. You can tell when they are done baking by pressing a finger down the middle. If no fingerprint is left, they are done.
- Cool the hearts on a baking rack. When cooled, they are brittle and inedible. Spray a clean cloth with water and wrap the honey hearts, first in the lightly sprayed cloth and then in an airtight container or sealed freezer bag.
- Refrigerate the honey hearts for 2-3 days, after which they will be delicious and soft and ready to be decorated and eaten. If they are not quite soft enough, sprinkle a little more water on the cloth and wait an extra day.
Decoration
- Brush the portion to be eaten with a thick layer of good tempered chocolate and an image of St. Nicholas.
- The honey hearts can be stored for 3-4 weeks in the fridge and also keep well after decorating, for a few days on the kitchen table, covered with a clean cloth.