Gingerbread Slice (Perník)

This recipe for perník, Bohemian gingerbread flavored with old Czech spices, is made on a baking sheet. The spices enhance its taste, surprising you in a pleasant way.

I decorated the surface of the cake with a grid of fruit jam. The marmalade adds a juicy flavor to the cake while looking nice.

➤ The Czech word perník (pernik) translates into English as gingerbread. Perníčky (small, tiny shapes made of spiced honey dough) can be translated as gingerbread cookies.

MYT TIP: Try also this Czech makovec poppy seed cake (it tastes heavenly!)

Ingredients

To make Czech gingerbread perník slice, we need:

• All-purpose flour
• Eggs; remove them about half to an hour before baking and let them come to room temperature
• Coarse sugar
• Homemade gingerbread spice mix; anise seeds, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, lemon and orange zest - preparation described below
• Baking powder
• Oil; sunflower or rapeseed
• Milk; ideally lukewarm
• Cocoa; dark, Dutch type
• Marmalade; for the decorative grid, preferably a tangier one (e.g., currant)

Next, take some fat and a tablespoon of flour to line the baking tray. Also, a pastry or other sturdy plastic bag to pipe the marmalade grid over the gingerbread batter poured on the baking sheet.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

Homemade Gingerbread Spice Mix

Here are the ingredients you need to prepare homemade gingerbread spices:

How to make it:

1. Grind anise, allspice, and cloves in a spice grinder (electric or manual). Strain the ground mixture through a coarse sieve to remove any tough spice residue.
2. Add ground cinnamon.
3. Wash the orange and lemon carefully and grate about a teaspoon of fresh zest from each citrus. Add this too to the mixture and stir.

➤ The gingerbread spice mix is now ready to use.

Making Gingerbread Slices

STEP 1: Grease a baking tray and dust it with flour.

STEP 2: With an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs with the coarse sugar until foamy. Be patient; it will take five minutes.

➤ TIP: Eggs that you take out of the fridge half an hour to an hour in advance and let them come to room temperature will be much easier to whip!

STEP 3: In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and cocoa.

STEP 4: Gradually add the flour, milk, and oil to the whisked eggs. Beat slowly with an electric mixer. Finally, stir in the gingerbread spice blend.

STEP 5: Pour the gingerbread batter onto the prepared baking sheet and use a spatula to level the surface.

STEP 6: Heat the marmalade in a saucepan so that it is warm but not hot. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of water and stir into a semi-liquid mixture. Fill a pastry bag with a cut-off tip (about ¼ inch / 0.5 cm) with the marmalade mixture thus prepared. Use the bag to make a slanting grid across the surface of the pastry.

STEP 7: Bake the gingerbread in a preheated oven at 340 °F (170 °C) for 30 minutes. 

Serving

Let the gingerbread cake cool down completely, and then cut it into slices of approximately 3x3 inches (7x7 cm). Serve with a good cup of coffee or tea.

Baking Sheet

I baked the gingerbread slice on a 12x14 inch (30x35 cm) baking sheet. Feel free to use a bit larger baking sheet; the resulting gingerbread won't be as tall. You may need more jam for the grid.

Useful Tips

• The gingerbread slice will puff up quite a bit on the baking sheet, but the jam grid will compress the dough, creating a nice plastic effect on the surface.
• Use a more distinctive marmalade. The marmalade gives the gingerbread cake a significant flavor boost. I mixed plum jam with currant jam.
• Warmed marmalade will be easier to pipe. If it's too stiff, thin it with a bit of water while heating. Whisk well to a smooth mixture with no clumps.

More sweet recipes:

• Coconut meringue cookies – Czech kokosky
• Plum dumplings – with poppy seeds
• Czech apple slice – hraběnčiny řezy

Recipe Card