Piernik - Polish Honey Cakes

 I made a traditional Polish Piernik (Honey Cake) for the holidays this year and it came out as nice as I remembered them being from childhood. The whole house smelled like Christmas when I was baking too - so many fond memories!  

 I used my grandmother's recipe - here is a photo of my grandma Irena's instructions written over 30 years ago:  It says: Mix 15 dkg (150g) of butter or margarine with 35 dkg (350g) of heated honey (it should be liquid, not boiling, but warmer than room temperature).While mixing, add 6 egg yolks and 40 dkg (400g) of sugar. Then add 2 tsp or 2 tablespoons (depending on how spicy you like it) of ground pumpkin pie spices          (I didn't have officially labeled "pumpkin pie spices          so I added about 1 Tablespoon of a mix of ground          ginger, cloves, and cinnamon). Pour in 1 cup (250 ml) of dark beer. Then add 3/4 kg (750g) of flour mixed with 15 g of baking soda.  Add dried fruits and nuts (as much as you like and what you like- my mom would usually add 2 cups of predominantly raisins and candied orange peel but this year I opted for straight honey-cakes so I skipped the fruit). The traditional fruits and nuts include: raisins, walnuts, almonds, candied orange peel, dried apricots, figs, dates and so forth)    At the end add stiff foam from 6 egg whites. Mix carefully- so the batter is "light and airy".  Divide into several bread-baking pans, greased with butter (about 3 standard loaf pans, or you can make the miniature loaves and they make super gifts) and bake about 1 hour at 350 deg F.       sans-serif">You can keep piernik at room temperature for weeks! Some claim it gets better with time. In old time traditional Poland they used to bake piernik when a girl was born, then bury it underground to preserve it and eat it at her wedding. These days it is a traditional Christmas time treat.     In my opinion it is better to go easy on fruits and nuts. In Poland people think - the more of fruits and nuts, the better is the piernik, but I just love the taste of the honey cakes and it's especially tasty with some cream cheese for a snack.