Christmas is coming, we're making gingerbread figurines!
Noi suntem fani turtă dulce. An de an, la noi în casă, de Crăciun, miroase a turtă dulce, a scorțișoară, cuișoare și ghimbir. Încă de la începutul lui decembrie aromele acestea încep să parfumeze întreaga casă. În fiecare an coacem două porții, pentru că o mare parte le oferim prietenilor noștri împreună cu cadourile de Crăciun. Avem "doar " două pungi de forme de la foarte mici la foarte mari și tot ne mai uităm după forme noi. Turta dulce a intrat în "tradițiile" familiei noastre, încă din anii '80, când la serviciul Every year I bought a gingerbread figurine and put it in my daughter's boots in Saint Nicholas day.
However, the recipe I have is from an old friend who used to make this gingerbread at Christmas. Soft, flavorful, a goodness! It was the best of any I had tasted before and I had to make it too. Basically it's to make a batter and nothing more, but with attention to quantity and quality of honey. From the quantities specified comes out to about 6-7 trays of gingerbread. I use to cook them in two pans, one 36x27 cm and one 30x22 cm. While one is in the oven I prepare the other. Here's the gingerbread recipe and how I make it.
For the meringue glaze I use 1 egg white, 65 g powdered sugar and 2 drops of lemon juice. I mix the egg white a little with the mixer on low speed and gradually increase the speed. When the egg white starts to foam a little I add the powdered sugar, lemon juice and mix until it becomes a stiff, glossy foam. The resulting amount is not enough to cover all the figurines I make. But I prefer to make several servings of meringue from one egg white at a time rather than making a larger quantity. As it's consumed, depending on my decorating inspiration, I make another serving. Carefully place the decorated gingerbread in the trays as they stick to each other. Store in a dry place for several days.
One detail to keep in mind is the drying time of the meringue. The meringue doesn't dry quickly, it will take a few days, even 4 days to dry completely, so keep this time in mind to be ready by Christmas.