Roe: recipe for New Year's gingerbread
Stages of making New Year's Arkhangelsk gingerbread cookies.
There are a lot of recipes for making Arkhangelsk gingerbread - rozul. I will share one that our family uses and that my mother taught me. I have been involved in making goats since early childhood - at first I colored the roes baked by my mother, and now, as an adult, I took over the baton from my mother and bake them myself for every New Year. This is our good northern family tradition, and I will be glad if it enters your families and fills the New Year with the feeling of an unforgettable magical winter fairy tale!
Making New Year's Arkhangelsk gingerbread cookies is a very long process that includes three stages:
- Test preparation.
- Bakery.
- Decorating baked gingerbread cookies with glaze.
Each of these stages cannot be done in a hurry or in the course of ordinary affairs - nothing will work. Your attitude will affect the quality of the gingerbread. Before the start of each stage, you need to smile, free yourself from unnecessary thoughts and worries, fully concentrate on this creative process, and during the creation of the gingerbread be in a peaceful state. For example, silently - to yourself - read prayers or say good wishes to those people to whom you will give gingerbread cookies. Then the roes will bring only joy, health and happiness. And your reward will be the smiles of those to whom you give them, as well as the unique taste and beauty of the resulting gingerbread cookies, harmony and peace in your home.
Make the dough when no one will disturb you or distract you - in our family it was always late in the evening, when the children were sleeping. The dough is made by adults without the participation of children, since this process is very difficult and requires care and precision. But cutting out roe deer using cutters and decorating them with icing is something we can do together with the children as a family!
First stage. Making dough for roe deer.
To make the dough you will need:
- 3-3.5 cups of granulated sugar, a glass of chilled boiled water, about 2 kg of flour (it must be sifted through a sieve), a pack of 200 -250 g. butter or high-quality butter margarine (preferably made with butter), 2 eggs, 1 tbsp. baking soda slaked with vinegar, spices for gingerbread (ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, coriander).
How to make the dough:
Step 1. Pour 2-2.5 cups of granulated sugar into 1 cup of chilled boiled water and place on low heat. Prepare the syrup.
Cut the butter into small pieces.
Step 2. At the same time, on another burner in a metal pan, burn 1 cup of granulated sugar until brown. We do this over low heat with constant stirring. It is best to stir with either the handle of a metal spoon or a knife (to prevent the sugar from sticking). The sugar will first melt to a brown liquid, then foam will appear, it will boil and smoke. Let it simmer a little, turn off the burner and immediately proceed to step 3.
Step 3. Pour the burnt sugar into the syrup in a thin stream while constantly stirring the resulting mixture with a spoon. We do this very slowly and carefully, without haste.
Step 4. Add the butter cut into pieces to the resulting mixture and mix until a homogeneous liquid is obtained. We put it on the balcony or outside the window to cool.
While the mixture is cooling to a warm state in the cold, soak the dishes, otherwise the sugar will harden and will be difficult to wash. And then we prepare the dough.
Step 5. Place spices to taste in another large saucepan. We usually put two tablespoons of spices: 1 tbsp. l. ground cinnamon and 1 tbsp. ground cloves. We buy whole cloves and grind them ourselves immediately before making gingerbread cookies - it turns out more fragrant than ready-made ground cloves sold in stores. You can use other spices - ginger, coriander or a ready-made spice mixture for gingerbread.
Step 6. Place 1 tablespoon of baking soda in the same pan (quench it with vinegar).
Step 7 Beat 2 eggs with a mixer or whisk. Add to the same pan.
And then pour into this pan the warm liquid that we put in the cold to cool in step 4. Mix everything thoroughly.
Step 8 Kneading the dough. Start adding flour to the pan. We note the time on the timer, since you need to spend at least an hour on the kneading. Be sure to sift the flour through a sieve before kneading. Add flour in very small portions, mix with a spoon or mixer. It is difficult to predict how much flour you will need, you need to feel it - but approximately 1.5-1.8 kg.
When the dough becomes stiff enough, we begin to knead it not with a mixer, but by hand. Knead for exactly an hour. If even after half an hour it seems to you that the dough is ready, continue kneading it anyway. Dough made incorrectly will crack during baking. When kneading, we put our positive thoughts into our living dough, we say good wishes to ourselves to those people who will eat these gingerbread cookies, we read prayers - that is, we do everything that will help you bring yourself into a state of calm, joy and gratitude to the world, nature, gratitude to your family and loved ones.
Kneading dough requires a lot of physical effort, so men have long been involved in this task.
After an hour of thoroughly kneading the dough, you will get a beautiful loaf of uniform, dense consistency. It looks like wet clay with a silky glossy surface that is very pleasant to stroke with your hand. The dough should not stick to your hands. Wrap the dough in a bag, tie the bag and put the dough in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. The dough should rest in the cold for 2 weeks. If you did not have time to make the dough in advance, then let it lie in the cold for at least a day.
Small addition: my mother did not and does not have a clear, initially specified proportion of products in the goat dough - she “felt” it (like my grandmother) and did a lot “by instinct.” For example, sometimes I put not 2 eggs in the dough, but 3 eggs. And I took 3/4 teaspoon of soda. Sometimes it took 1.5 kg of flour, sometimes 1.8 kg - this was not measured on scales. and was determined by its consistency. But this is already “aerobatics” for which you need experience in baking roe deer. At the initial stage, it is better to make the dough according to the same recipe many times.
Second phase. Cut out roes from the dough and bake.
To bake gingerbread you will need: molds or cardboard templates for cutting out figures, rolling pin.
You can download 65 ready-made templates for gingerbread cookies for free in the article “Stencils for gingerbread cookies” on my website “Native Path” -. And also in this article you can attend a gingerbread ball and see real northern roes of fabulous beauty.
Step 1. Take the dough out of the cold in advance and let it warm up at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
Step 2. Cut pieces from the dough and roll them out with a rolling pin into layers approximately 5 mm thick, no more.
Step 3. Using a cardboard template or using ready-made molds, cut out the figures. We place large figures in the center of the layer, and small ones on the sides. We try to arrange the figures so as to use the entire area of the dough layer.
Step 4. Bake the roes in the oven at 180 degrees for about 5 minutes (the exact time depends on the characteristics of your oven).
How can you tell if the gingerbread is baked?
- If the gingerbread after 5 minutes of baking has the color of creamy toffee, then it is not ready yet, and you still need to keep it in the oven for another 2 minutes. If the gingerbreads after 5 minutes of baking have the brown color of milk chocolate, then they are already ready and can be used remove from oven.
- You need to take into account that the gingerbread cookies that you remove from the oven will be slightly soft, but at the same time rosy. The gingerbread cookies will still ripen - air dry for 24 hours. And then they will become more solid. Place the baked gingerbread cookies on a hard surface and let them sit for a day.
- In my modern oven, baking at 180 degrees with ventilation takes 7 minutes, not 5 minutes - like in my mother's oven. Here you need to try and notice the specific “your” time and write it down in your roe recipe for the future.
— If you leave the gingerbread cookies in the oven, in a day they will become hard as a stone. If they are not kept in the oven enough, the surface of the roe will subsequently wrinkle and look ugly and uneven. Each oven has its own “character” - so be sure to note the time your roes were in the oven during your first bake. And then for the future, either remember it (if everything works out well) or correct it.
Addition as an option. In our family, it is customary to bake gingerbread cookies with a matte surface, as I described above. If you want to get gingerbread cookies with a glossy surface, then before baking they need to be greased with yolk or yolk, diluted and mixed well with 1 tablespoon of water. My mother sometimes greased the surface of the gingerbread with one egg white. Try different options and choose the one you like best.
Third stage. Decorate the roe with glaze.
For the glaze you will need: 1 protein, 1 lemon, 1 raw beets, 1 cup powdered sugar (pre-sieve through a sieve). You can buy powder or make it yourself from granulated sugar.
Step 1. Using a mixer or whisk, beat one egg white. You need to beat very carefully, as poorly beaten egg whites will create bubbles when decorating the gingerbread.
Step 2. Gradually add powdered sugar to the egg whites in small portions and continue beating. The result was white glaze.
Step 3. Add a few drops of lemon juice to the glaze. Lemon juice is added to give the glaze shine and a slightly sour taste. The white icing is ready.
Separate ¼ of the glaze into a separate bowl and prepare the pink glaze in it.
Step 4. Prepare pink glaze. To do this, grind a piece of raw beets on a fine grater, squeeze out the juice and add a few drops of this juice to the bowl for the pink glaze. Stir. Add beet juice until desired pink color is obtained.
Nowadays food coloring is also added to obtain a variety of glaze colors, but we never use them at home and decorate gingerbread cookies only with traditional colors - white and pink - and only using natural products.
Step 5. Decorating gingerbread cookies.
Children are traditionally involved in decorating gingerbread cookies - from very young children to teenagers. This is a very exciting creative process!
In northern gingerbread, they usually do not fill the background with spots of glaze, but draw patterns on it - straight lines, wavy lines, curls, dots, crosses, zigzags.
You can paint with icing on the surface of gingerbread cookies using:
A) sticks (since childhood I painted with the opposite sharp end of a wooden brush), often dipping it into the glaze and wiping the excess glaze from it with a linen napkin while working,
B) a regular painting brush with natural bristles.
C) you can pour the glaze into a small plastic bag, make a hole in the corner and draw with it like a culinary bag,
D) for thin lines use a wooden toothpick,
D) using a ready-made pastry bag for decorating cakes and pastries.
These are the methods that we use. Even when I was very little, I never drew on roe deer with my fingers - this is not customary here. Little children decorate roe deer with a stick, putting large dots and drawing large lines. If you draw with your finger, the roe deer will come out clumsy, sloppy, not ours, not northern. If you need to correct something, then wet the painting brush in a glass of water and remove excess water from the brush using a linen napkin. And use a damp brush to correct the contours of the design.
A little trick: If you want the glaze to turn out snowy, then sprinkle the gingerbread with sugar immediately after painting, when the glaze has not yet dried. When the glaze hardens, shake off the sugar. You will get a shaggy and fluffy pattern on your roe like snow.
Have fun and enjoy your creativity! And at the end of the article - a little about the history of these gingerbread cookies from Stepan Pisakhov’s article “About roe deer”
About roe deer
“The passing of the old way of life takes with it the mystery of the origin of the Christmas roe. It has long been a tradition to bake roe for Christmas. But why are they only baked for Christmas? And where does this name come from - roe deer? These are questions to this day... Our ethnographers ignored them, apparently because they came to Arkhangelsk in the summer, when there are no roe deer. I'll try to say a few words about roe deer. Maybe someone will respond and it will be possible to find out the beginning of the roe.
The most ancient roe deer - Kholmogory and Mezen - are made of black dough, sometimes colored with white dough. Kholmogory roe deer resemble a deer in appearance. A figure on four legs, a head, a bush of branched horns, apples on the horns, birds on the apples, or rather bird wings, made of white dough (an apple with wings resembles the image of a winged sun) is sculpted from dough. And the whole roe seems to have been transported from a very ancient pagan world. One can see some kind of occult recording in this strangely beautiful figure. The size of such a roe is 5-6 inches. Smaller roe deer are made without apples on the horns, but only with birds (the birds resemble hands with outstretched fingers). They bake roe deer in small sizes - about an inch, simplified in design, or they try to make them resemble a cow, a horse (sometimes with a rider on a horse). Professor Zelinsky in 1913 noticed that these small roes are very similar in shape and size to the figures of the Stone Age.
In the Mezen district, in addition to small ones like the Kholmogory ones, they also bake flat roes: they roll out the dough into a long ribbon half the thickness of a pencil and roll it up in different patterns, sometimes unexpectedly resembling a sacred lotus in a wavy environment reminiscent of radiance. There are also birds on the nest and others.
In the spring of 1914, at my request, the old woman undertook to cook roe. She rolled out threads from the dough and began to fold the design, whispering something. I asked: “What are you whispering, grandma?” The old woman stopped and said sternly: “Don’t knock them down if you need the roe.” I don’t know whether the old woman’s whispering had anything to do with the roe deer. The old woman did not explain. Others made the excuse of ignorance.
In Arkhangelsk, roe deer are baked from gingerbread dough, cut into iron molds (gingerbread silhouettes) and decorated (cut) with sugar glaze, white and colored (usually pink), generously covered with “gold” and “sprinkles”. Forms made of iron, sometimes quite thick, are preserved for a long time, passing from generation to generation. Through questioning, we were able to establish that the forms were up to 200 years old, but, undoubtedly, there are forms that are much older. At El. Pet. P-shaped from her mother, grandmother, etc. Also, other masters of rozul have the most ancient drawings that have come down to us. Kozulniks and Kozulniks often do not know how to draw with a pencil at all, but will take a stick or tube with icing and, using the silhouette of a gingerbread, repeating what they have seen and adopted from their elders, they will create amazingly beautiful drawings.
In 1913 or 1914, I saw a roe woman at the market with a roe depicting an eagle. On his chest is the letter “A” and one stick (Alexander 1). He asked her: “Why do you have the letter “A” on your eagle and one stick? You need “N” and two sticks.” And I heard in response: “But because it’s necessary. My mother and my grandmother made the letter “A” and one stick - that means that’s how it should be. What kind of pointer were you looking for?” Forms in confectionery shops undergo changes. There, craftsmen come up with new forms and become more sophisticated in the intricacies of cutting, paying little attention to established designs.
Baking roe deer begins in October. At the beginning of December, roe deer appear in bakeries and pastry shops. In mid-December, all the windows and shelves of bakeries and pastry shops are filled with them. The size of the roe is from one and a half to 10-12 vershok. Their cost ranges from a penny to a ruble, and more elaborate confectionery products cost up to 10 rubles or more.
Before Christmas, roe deer fill the market. Roe deer traders line up in rows and unfold their boxes - offering customers a wide choice. A huge number of parcels with roe deer were sent throughout Russia and abroad.
Much in the Arkhangelsk province has been preserved from very ancient times. It seems to me that the roe deer of Kholmogory and Mezen (and in a number of other districts) are the heritage of the local pioneers. It is possible that the Novgorodians and Muscovites who came here brought gingerbread with them. And from the ancient roe made of black dough and from gingerbread our roe could emerge. But perhaps gingerbread was brought to the North by foreigners and adapted for the Christian holiday instead of pagan cookies.
Drawings of the most ancient forms - a star, an angel, a shepherd, a basket (with gifts), birds, animals close to humans, a Christmas tree, grapes, vases with flowers, a deer with a sleigh, a lion (the lion is like the king of animals, and maybe this was influenced by English or Norwegian). Later roe deer - Amazon, cabman, dog with a booth, cat. And those that have appeared over the past decades - a steamboat, a steam locomotive, a cyclist, an airplane. And after 1920 - the hammer and sickle and the grandfather with the slogan “Workers of all countries, unite!” In 1925, I saw at the market a roe deer with the image of a new eagle: the shape of the gingerbread is the same as before, only on the eagle’s chest there is a sickle and a hammer, the cross is cut off, and on the crown is “RSFSR”.
Last year, in 1926, I met N.D. Vinogradov in Moscow, who had collected a large and, it seems, the only collection of gingerbread cookies in Russia as examples of folk art. Seeing how N.D. Vinogradov lovingly and attentively treats this type of folk art, I set myself the task of collecting as complete a collection of roe deer for him as possible. And perhaps, with the help of N.D. Vinogradov and other smart people, it will be possible to find out their origin.
From the collection of Pisakhov S.G. Fairy tales, Essays, Letters. / Ser. Russian North. - Arkhangelsk, North-Western book publishing house, 1985.
You will find another recipe for New Year’s gingerbread cookies and Christmas tree gingerbread cookies that you can make with your children in the articles “Gingerbread cookies for the Christmas tree.”
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Since ancient times, people have baked various sweets for the holidays. For a birthday - a cake, for Easter - Easter cakes, for a wedding - a loaf. But for Christmas they baked roe deer.
What are these sweets?
Kozuli are traditional Christmas cookies made from rye or wheat flour. Most often it was made in the shape of a goat, horse, sheep, cow, or deer. The goat has always been considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity in the home, and making cookies in the shape of this animal symbolized prosperity.
During the Christmas holidays, all relatives, friends, neighbors and caroling children received roe biscuits as a treat. The recipe for such sweets was passed down from generation to generation. Each family baked roe deer with its own “twist”. After all, not only people were treated to Christmas cookies, but they were also fed to pets. People believed that after this the cattle became very fertile. In addition, roe deer were hung in a stable or barn as a talisman, and were also used for fortune telling on Epiphany evening.
Roe biscuits. Recipe one
To prepare you will need:
- 5 cups sugar (for dough and glaze);
- 2.5 glasses of water;
- 3 eggs (in dough);
- 5 yolks (in the dough);
- 2 egg whites (for icing).
- 1/2 teaspoon salt;
- 2 tablespoons of soda;
- 2-3 tablespoons of spices (cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon);
- 2 drops of vinegar essence (in glaze);
- 1.8-2 kg of flour.
Preparing the dough and making goats
Over low heat in a thick bowl (preferably a frying pan with a thick bottom) melt 2 cups of sugar (until brown). Then slowly pour in 1.5 cups of boiling water. The water in the bowl should boil and steam vigorously. It is better not to lean low over the frying pan so as not to burn your face. It is necessary to constantly stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Dissolve everything in Add the same amount of sugar (2 cups), stir and let it dissolve completely. Next, you can remove the syrup from the heat and add 350 g of margarine (butter). Pour the entire mixture into a large saucepan and let cool.
While the syrup is cooling, in a separate cup you need to beat 5 yolks and 3 whole eggs (as for an omelet). Pour the egg mixture into the cooled syrup. Add salt, spices (to taste) and soda. Sift the flour, then gradually pour into the sugar mixture. Flour should be poured as required by the roe recipe, even if the dough seems liquid. Otherwise the products will be tough. Place the finished dough in a cool place for one day.
After the allotted time has passed, roll it out about a centimeter thick and cut out your favorite shapes (you can make the necessary templates in advance). Products should be baked at a temperature of 180 degrees.
Glaze
And for the roe deer? We will now look at the recipe for making it. First you need to beat two whites into a stiff foam. Boil syrup from a glass of water and sugar. Remove the boiling syrup from the heat and pour the whites into it. Beat with a mixer until thick (15-25 minutes). Finally, pour in the essence. If you want, you can add dye. After which you can decorate the finished roes with glaze.
To make the cookies soft and tasty, it is better to make them large and not very thin. And most importantly, do not overdry the dough in the oven! Then you will get real, “magical” Christmas roes, the traditional recipe of which is now known to you!
Other products
Gingerbread-roe cakes are also baked. What are these products and where did they come from? Gingerbread appeared in the north of Arkhangelsk. In those ancient times, they were baked only for New Year and Christmas. Gingerbread cookies were cut out in the shape of figures of animals, birds, an angel, a Christmas tree, houses, a Christmas star or a sleigh. The recipe for roe deer was passed down from grandmothers to mothers and has survived to this day. There are also separate family forms of roe deer, both ancient and new, modern.
The northerners believed that roe deer attracted good luck. If, for example, a young girl makes gingerbread herself and gives it to a single guy, then soon she will definitely become a bride. But it was customary to give the largest roe to the whole family for good luck. She was considered a talisman. Most often, roe deer were baked in the oven. But in the 30s of the last century, they began to use another method: before putting the figurine in the oven, they began to immerse it in boiling water for a couple of minutes to preserve the shape of the gingerbread.
The main secret of making roe deer is to make the dough with love, in a good mood and without haste. It is best to start kneading late in the evening, before going to bed.
Gingerbread dough
What about roe deer? Its recipe is clear to everyone. For cooking you will need:
- 2-2.5 kg of sifted flour;
- two eggs;
- a pack of margarine or butter;
- a tablespoon of baking soda, slaked with vinegar;
- spices to taste (cloves, ginger, cinnamon);
- 3-4 glasses of sugar.
Preparation
Glaze for roe deer. Recipe
First, we'll tell you how it's done. You need to thoroughly beat one egg white. Next, you need to gradually add powdered sugar (a glass) and a few drops of lemon for shine. To prepare the pink glaze, you first need to separate a little of the white glaze and drop raw beet juice into it, and then stir until the shade is uniform.
Gingerbread cookies can be decorated using a brush, match, stick or pastry bag. It all depends on your imagination. It is better not to fill the products with glaze, but to draw intricate New Year's patterns. The glaze recipe can be slightly varied by adding carrot juice, cocoa or dyes to the cream.
Third recipe
Of course, these are not the only gingerbread roe. The recipe for another magical pastry will help you prepare such sweet products a little faster. For cooking you will need:
- sugar - 800 g;
- glass of water;
- margarine (butter) - 150 g;
- spices (cinnamon, cloves);
- soda - teaspoon;
- 3 eggs;
- flour.
Cooking gingerbread
Melt one glass of sugar over the fire and dissolve it in a glass of hot water. Then pour in two more glasses of sand and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and add butter (about 150 g), a teaspoon of cinnamon and soda to the syrup. Cool and add one egg and two yolks. Then pour in 0.5 kg of flour and knead into a stiff dough. Keep it in a cool place. Then add another half a kilogram of granulated sugar and roll it into a layer 50 mm thick. Cut out animal figures and place on a greased sheet.
Brush the gingerbread with egg and water and place in the oven. Bake for about 7 minutes. Finished products must dry.
How to prepare glaze for roe deer in this case? The recipe is practically no different from the usual one. For cooking you will need:
- two proteins;
- powdered sugar;
- dye or juice of berries and vegetables.
Beat two egg whites and powdered sugar (5-7 tablespoons). Add or juice of cranberries, beets, blueberries, lingonberries, carrots. Mix well until uniform. Add dye until you get the desired color. Afterwards you can decorate the gingerbread cookies with glaze.
Conclusion
Many people don’t even suspect that such delicious and unusual gingerbread roe exists. Some people saw or tried this pastry, but did not know its name. Now you understand how to make real Christmas roes, the recipe for which is presented in the article, which means you can not only try them yourself, but also bake these amazing figures. Children love them most of all. After all, gingerbread cookies are so similar to fairy-tale toys that bring joy and faith in miracles on New Year’s Eve. But, by the way, there is no such holiday when it would be impossible to decorate the dinner table with gingerbread roes! Whatever roe recipe you choose, bake them with love, kindness and faith in the best! Go for it - and everything will work out for you!
The most ancient baked goods are ritual gingerbread-roe. That is, initially they were not gingerbread, since they appeared much earlier than spices in Rus'. And roe deer used to be figurines made of unleavened dough, which were sculpted for the New Year, only the Slavic one, which coincided with the harvest festival and came in September. And only then the roe deer began to bake in the winter - and these cute gingerbread cookies became a symbol of our Orthodox Christmas. However, first things first.
Why roe deer?
“Roes are different,” he tells us Master class specialist and tour guide of the Museum of Russian Dessert, Svetlana Ustyugova. - “The first roe deer appeared on Pomeranian soil many centuries ago. They are considered the most ancient type of baked figured dough. There is chronicle evidence that back in the 12th century our ancestors sculpted figures of bulls and cows from dough. Gingerbread cookies were strips of dough woven into fancy twists. For their twisted, snake-like shape, the ancient Pomeranian cookies got their name - roe, from the Pomeranian word “roe” - snake, curl."
Photo: AiF/ Alexey Vissarionov
The image of a roe-snake was associated with the autumn harvest, or rather with its completion - with the autumn New Year or New Year (in September). Later this tradition was transferred to winter Christmas and January New Year. And in the Kargopol region, roe deer were made in the form of serpentine curls rolled into circles called “grouse” and baked in mid-March, which also refers to a very ancient ritual dedicated to the spring equinox.
The Pomors believed that such roe-snakes would bring wealth and prosperity to the house.
There are three types of roe deer: three-dimensional Kholmogory roe deer (resembling clay figurines), Kargopol teter roe deer and painted flat gingerbread roe deer. The last ones, Arkhangelsk roe, appeared in the Russian North when sugar and spices (cinnamon and cloves) arrived there, that is, they became available to ordinary people, and not just the rich and noble. This happened no earlier than the 18th century.
In the old days, making and painting roe deer were largely ritual in nature; our ancestors believed in the protective power of fragrant gingerbread. Roe is both a talisman and a talisman.Today, Arkhangelsk roe deer are a beautiful, aromatic edible souvenir, an excellent gift for any holiday or anniversary.
The shapes of gingerbread cookies have become varied. There are houses, hearts, and even cartoon characters.
Northern gingerbread
In the old days, roe deer were baked from rye flour to obtain a characteristic dark color, on which the glaze pattern looks most advantageous. Later they began to be made from wheat flour, adding burnt sugar. The dough was prepared in advance, it could lie in the cold for weeks, and it only got better. The figures were cut out in different ways - the goat girls had their own molds, which they took care of and passed on to generations. Already baked and cooled roe deer were covered with glaze of two colors: white and pink, obtained using lingonberry or cranberry juice.
Photo: AiF/ Alexey Vissarionov
Pomeranian roe deer have survived to this day almost unchanged; these traditional small gingerbread cookies have been baked by the inhabitants of Pomerania for many centuries. It is assumed that the settlement of the White and Barents Seas occurred in the 9th-11th centuries, where the Pomors as a people were formed for a long time. These “steadfast tin soldiers” lived a special way of life and everyday life, retained the pagan faith for a long time, believed in spirits, the machinations of evil spirits... On Christmas Eve they baked Pomeranian roe deer from rye flour, funny little figurines of animals and birds.
Pomeranian roe all year (until next Christmas) served as a talisman against evil forces, because it was believed that they have a positive influence on people's lives. They contribute to the industry, the well-being of the family, the health of people, livestock, poultry, and maintain happiness in the home... Traditionally, unleavened rye dough for gingerbread was kneaded from coarse rye flour and water. The owner of the house kneaded (rolled), which had a certain ritual meaning. In addition, the kneading process is long and requires great physical effort. The dough, rolled into a log, had to stand without bending. Incorrect mixing led to cracking of the Pomeranian roe.Men and women took part in making gingerbread, and children learned the art of rolling roe deer. Whole herds of different animals: deer, cows, big-horned sheep, seals, moose, birds, were sent to the Russian oven. Pomeranian roes were sculpted with prayers and sayings; people seemed to endow the gingerbread animals with the ability to protect and protect. Each small figure had a certain semantic meaning, for example, a deer with intertwined horns - a symbol of faith, hope, love, a cow brought prosperity, a bird with chicks on its back personified the happiness of motherhood.
Most often, Pomors sculpted deer, which, depending on the shape of the horns, had different semantic meanings. There were deers of friendship, health and longevity, spiritual protectors, deers of love and warmth. Ritual gingerbread was given to relatives, loved ones, neighbors, children played with Pomeranian deer, the owners gave gifts to carolers, who went from house to house with good wishes. The girls told fortunes using Pomeranian roe deer and treated the boys. A few little protectors were left until next Christmas, in order to protect the home and family from misfortunes. For a while, Pomeranian roe deer became members of the family and received names: Chernukha, Belyanka...
There were bread figurines next to the icons, which proves the importance the Pomors attached to ritual baking! Broken and old gingerbread cookies were never thrown away. The bread figurines were fed to the cattle, and in times of famine they could eat it themselves. In each region, different roes were baked, differing in shape, there were Terek, Mezen, Kargopol, Kholmogory. Our Pomeranian roe deer made from rye dough are peasant ones.
Pomeranian peasant roe
Ingredients:
Rye flour
Water
Salt
Step 1. Gradually adding flour to water you need to knead a stiff dough. And salt it.
Step 2. Knead the dough very thoroughly. Make a sausage out of it.
Step 3. Let the dough rest overnight, you can keep it in the refrigerator longer.
Step 4. Before modeling, the dough needs to be kneaded and cut into small pieces.
Step 5. Make a roe deer, gradually pulling out the head, legs, and antlers from the main piece.
Step 6. Bake in the oven or oven for an hour, then dip in boiling water, then bake for another 20-30 minutes. Repeat boiling and baking until the roe deer become firm and glossy. Cool.
The components of the dough also had their own meaning: water - life, strength, purification, rye flour - health, wealth, salt - a talisman against all evil spirits.
How to sculpt
The sculpting techniques are the same for all figures. The movements have been honed over centuries, there are no unnecessary ones. Even the number of cuts in the process of sculpting roe deer should be no more than 17. This requirement was fulfilled by all Pomeranian craftsmen and was associated with the ritual nature of the figurines.
A sausage was made from the dough and divided into small pieces. An “egg” was made from a piece, then the sharp part of it was pulled out more and a “pear” was obtained. By pulling out 1/3 of the “pear”, we got a “shoe”. Using the thumb and index finger, the legs of the deer were stretched out. Then cuts were made from the side of the abdomen, resulting in 4 legs. The remaining part on top was made into the head and horns.
Solombala roe deer
Photo: AiF/ Alexey Vissarionov
600 g granulated sugar
500 g margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 tbsp. l. cinnamon
1 tbsp. carnations
2.4 tsp soda (quench with vinegar)
2 kg flour
Before baking, brush the products with yolk diluted with water (1/2 cup of water per yolk).
The finished roe deer are painted with colored glaze.
Glaze
Boil syrup from 1 glass of granulated sugar and 1 glass of water (check readiness with a ring - bubbles should be blown out of it);
- pour 2 whipped egg whites into the hot syrup and beat this mixture until it cools;
- add 2-3 drops of citric acid or vinegar essence and add color with food coloring.
Murmansk roe
Dough:
600 g granulated sugar
150 g butter or butter margarine
3 eggs
Cloves, cinnamon, baking soda - 1 teaspoon each
1.2-1.3 kg of flour.
Burn a glass of granulated sugar in an enamel dish. When all the sugar has melted, add 1 glass of hot boiled water (slowly). Mix. Then add another 2 cups of granulated sugar. When everything boils and the sugar has melted, turn it off. Add 150 g butter or margarine. When everything has cooled slightly, add 2 yolks and 1 whole egg, also add spices and water. Add flour (not all). Then pour the flour onto the table and knead the dough. Place the dough in a bag and leave it in the cold: outside in the cold or in the freezer. Can be stored for up to 1 month. Cut the dough from the refrigerator into small pieces and knead well until it becomes shiny. Do not add flour.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5 mm, cut out any shapes and bake them in the oven. Grease the baking tray not greasy, but slightly so that the gingerbread does not burn.
Glaze:
To make the glaze, beat 2 egg whites, gradually adding powdered sugar until the glaze becomes thick. Place the icing in a bag (paper rolled up into a tube) and paint the gingerbread.
Arkhangelsk roe deer
Photo: AiF/ Alexey Vissarionov
Burn 1 glass of granulated sugar, then dissolve it in a glass of hot water. Then add 2 cups of granulated sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Turn off the heat and add 150 g of butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, cloves and soda, cool slightly, add 1 egg and 2 yolks. After this, add about 0.5 kg of flour, knead the dough so that it does not stick to your hands. Keep the dough in a pan and cellophane in a cool place for a week. After this, add another 0.5 kg of granulated sugar to the dough and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Cut the rolled out dough into shapes made of tin or thick paper and place on a baking sheet, greased once with oil.
Brush the gingerbread cookies with an egg beaten with water in a 1:1 ratio and place in the oven. Bake for 5 - 7 minutes. Let the finished gingerbreads dry, then remove them from the baking sheet and decorate with glaze.
Arkhangelsk roe deer - aristocrats, painted with glaze, containing white flour, burnt sugar, cinnamon, cloves. To give the sugar glaze different colors, Pomors added the juices of northern berries. Men also took part in the preparation of the Arkhangelsk ritual gingerbread. They kneaded the dough, bent iron into contour shapes of figurines of animals and birds... From the rolled out dough they cut out flat Pomeranian roes with molds. The whole family decorated fragrant, beautiful gingerbread cookies. Now Pomeranian roe deer have lost their ritual magical significance, although they are still a good gift.
What are roe deer? If you don’t know the exact answer, you will never guess that these are Arkhangelsk gingerbreads decorated with multi-colored glaze, baked from dough in the form of figures of birds and animals: horses, deer, cows and bulls, seals and goats.
We will talk about what kinds of roe deer there are, about their history, about recipes and the intricacies of their preparation in this article.
The history of northern roe deer is long and beautiful. According to one version, the traditional baking of the Pomors (peoples living on the White Sea coast) received this name because in the local dialect “kozulya” (sometimes called “kozyulya”) means “snake”, “curl”. According to another version, because gingerbread was most often baked in the shape of a goat, which since ancient times was considered a symbol of prosperity and wealth in the home.
Arkhangelsk is considered the birthplace of these gingerbread cookies. Although in various northern settlements tied to a particular area according to toponymy: Mezen settlements along the Mezen River, Kargopol settlements - the city of Kargopol and nearby villages, Terek settlements that settled on the Terek coast of the White Sea, Kholmogory settlements - in the Kholmogory district, Arkhangelsk settlements - in Arkhangelsk - it has been preserved own technique for baking roe deer (from braid or kolob).
Even roe deer cooked within the same region could differ from each other. The most famous of them:
- Flat painted Arkhangelsk gingerbread roe. They appeared in the Russian North no earlier than the 18th century, when many residents were able to use previously unavailable spices (cloves, cinnamon) and sugar.
- Kargopol roe teters, which, like Mezen ones, unlike Arkhangelsk gingerbreads, are made from bread tow. Instead of painted solid flat figurines made from burnt sugar, “vitushki” are made in Kargopol. At the same time, the dough is stretched out, rolled into thin sausages (no thicker than a pencil), and various twisted figures are laid out from it.
- The voluminous Kholmogory roe (which, along with the Mezen ones, are considered the most ancient) was prepared from black dough, colored in some cases with white dough. In appearance, these are stylized figurines of a deer made of rye dough with a head depicting a bush, decorated with apples and bird wings made of white dough, reminiscent of the winged sun from pagan culture.
Be that as it may, northern roe deer are not just a national delicacy that the Pomors prepared according to special recipes known only to them, but also a traditional ritual dish. Their preparation is a real ancient rite, which initially had a deep philosophical meaning.
In ancient times, painted gingerbread cookies were credited with magical powers. And, probably, they were originally conceived not at all as a culinary dish (they were prepared from simple rye dough), but as ritual images of animals, which later became the basis for the emergence of delicious Pomeranian pastries.
This version is also confirmed by the fact that the animal figures from the dough had to be cut out in a certain way: they should look only to the left. The human figurine had to be turned to face forward. A strip was often left at the bottom of the gingerbread, symbolizing the earth.
In ancient times, gingerbread roe were baked strictly once a year: on Christmastide and Christmas holidays. The northern peoples sincerely believed that Christmas roes would bring them luck, wealth and prosperity. They were considered a talisman and given to the whole family for good luck. There are many signs and traditions associated with them.
The whole family took part in this event on the eve of the holidays. The men kneaded the dough, the women cut out curly gingerbread cookies in the shape of birds, animals, houses, Christmas trees, angels, sleighs and a Christmas star and baked them. The children were not left idle either: they actively helped in coloring and decorating them.
Read also: Lenten honey gingerbread with apples: recipe
On Christmas, all relatives, neighbors, friends, and caroling children received roe deer as a treat. It was also given to domestic animals, because it was believed that by eating such Christmas gingerbread, livestock would bear rich offspring. For the northern peoples, who mainly lived from fishing and cattle breeding, this was important.
Roes were hung as a talisman in barns and stables, protected their home from evil spirits, and were used as an indispensable attribute for fortune telling on Epiphany evenings. Cooking them with special love and diligence, they boasted to the guests. Christmas roes were not eaten immediately, but were stored for a long time (sometimes until the next holiday). The gingerbread figurine (even if it broke) could not be thrown away - this could bring bad luck.
Nowadays, the symbol of Pomerania - Christmas and New Year's gingerbread roe - is baked not only in Arkhangelsk and the region, but also in Murmansk and the Urals. Departing from strict ritual traditions, they are prepared for any home celebrations and holidays simply because they are a delicious and unusual dessert. They decorate the Christmas tree, use them in carols and as toys for children.
And art historians, connoisseurs of folk art and artists consider painted gingerbreads, prepared according to ancient recipes in the lands of the Russian North, as an ethnographic rarity and a culinary work of folk art.
How to cook northern roe deer?
The families of gingerbread makers strictly and secretly preserved the methods of preparing the dough, basting with sugar, decorating the finished baked goods, and their own recipe for roe deer with a “twist,” which was passed down through the female line.
In the old days, such figurines were baked in a special way: first, the dough was made from rye flour. Probably because the glaze pattern looked most advantageous against a dark background. They took the darkest flour, added a little salt, kneaded it thoroughly - and the dough was ready. Later, when preparing dough from wheat flour, burnt sugar was added to the dough to obtain a dark brown color.
The dough for roe deer was prepared in advance, and it could be kept in the cold for more than one week. However, this only made its properties better. Then they cut out figures of different shapes from it, which were also made in each family. And the finished and cooled gingerbread cookies were painted with white and pink glaze obtained by adding cranberry or lingonberry juice.
In different regions, something different, local, was added to the recipes for Russian carved gingerbread. An indispensable ingredient in Pomeranian Arkhangelsk dough is syrup made from burnt sugar (black molasses). Ural roe deer are prepared with the addition of honey. And, of course, various spices are used in all recipes, and the finished products are certainly decorated with multi-colored glaze.
Yeast is completely absent in goat recipes, and therefore such painted gingerbread cookies with the amazing aroma of cinnamon and honey do not lose their taste and do not spoil for a long time. On the contrary, after some time they become softer.
Hereditary Arkhangelsk gingerbread makers claim that the most important thing that is required when preparing them is to do everything without haste, in a good mood, with good thoughts in your head, when no one and nothing will distract you with other matters.
Let's try to prepare a sweet Christmas treat according to one of the ancient recipes that have come down to us. Although this process is fascinating, it is very lengthy and completely difficult, requiring precision and accuracy. It consists of three main stages:
- prepare the dough;
- bake;
- Decorate the finished gingerbread cookies with icing.
Read also: Honey gingerbread: recipe according to GOST
Honey roes
To prepare the gingerbread dough you will need:
- Flour – 450 g (you can take only wheat flour, or you can mix two types: rye – 300 g, wheat – 150 g)
- Water – 60 ml
- Honey – 150 g
- Baking soda – 1 tsp. (quench with vinegar)
- Butter – 3 tbsp. l.
- Sugar – 150 g
- Ground spices - cinnamon, cloves on the tip of a spoon (you can also take nutmeg, cardamom, ginger).
Baking gingerbread:
- Prepare the burnt mixture (it is best to do this in a thick-bottomed container) - melt the sugar over medium-intensity heat. When all the sugar has melted and turned brown, pour boiling water into the container in small portions (do this carefully - you can get burned by the hot steam generated and protect your eyes from the strongly foaming and splashing heated sugar). Add honey, stirring constantly. The result is a sweet, thick syrup.
- Add butter to the slightly cooled syrup (up to 70 degrees) and stir until a homogeneous creamy caramel mass is obtained.
- Add soda, spices to the cooled mass and mix again.
- Gradually add pre-sifted flour into the prepared mixture and stir so that there are no lumps in the dough (first, use a wooden spatula).
- Knead the dough on the board, adding flour in small portions (excess flour can make it too tight). The dough should be elastic, soft, resembling plasticine in consistency, very aromatic and tasty even when raw.
Kneading dough is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. But without this, the gingerbread cookies may crack during baking.
- Before baking, the finished dough should be kept in the cold (if you are in a hurry, at least a couple of hours, but it is better to leave it for a day).
If you do not plan to use all the dough at once, you can put it in a bag in the refrigerator for a while. Let sit at room temperature before baking.
- Next, cutting off pieces of dough, roll out a layer (thickness from 2-3 mm to 1 cm) on a cutting board sprinkled with flour. Crispy and thin gingerbread cookies will be made from thinner dough. More tender and fluffy - made from thicker dough. This dough is also suitable for baking a gingerbread house.
- Using a knife, carefully cut out the figures along the contours of pre-prepared original templates (stencils of angels, animal figures, Santa Clauses, snowmen can be made independently from thick paper or cardboard), laying them out on rolled out dough, or cutting them out using ready-made molds.
If you want to use your gingerbread figurines as Christmas tree decorations, you can make small holes in them, where a ribbon can be threaded after baking.
- Figures, greased with yolk and water: ½ cup of water and 1 yolk (egg grease gives Christmas roes a glossy shine and an appetizing appearance), place them on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment.
We leave a little distance between the figures, because the roes will rise a little during baking. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees (but in general, rely on your oven). The gingerbread figures should be browned, but it is important not to overcook them in the oven (they may dry out, become hard and crack).
- After our gingerbread cookies have cooled completely, we begin decorating them and painting them with colored glaze.
Ural roe deer recipe
It is assumed that the Ural roe deer are descendants of the northern roe deer. They came to the Urals along with settlers from the North. Their recipe was slightly modified taking into account local culture and traditions: sugar was completely or partially replaced with honey.
The main feature of local gingerbreads is that they were colorful, bright and certainly fragrant. Their honey-spicy aroma spread far beyond the boundaries of where they were baked. Ural gingerbread makers make special dough for baking and use small pieces to make figures.
And Merry Christmas. These painted aromatic goodies will decorate any table and lift the spirits of every family member. Their advantage lies not only in their unique taste, but also in the manifestation of creativity, because you can depict anything on them. The article presents several cooking recipes, as well as photos of “Arkhangelsk roe deer”. The history of the origin of these delicacies will be no less interesting.
"Arkhangelsk roe deer": history of origin
The origin of these delicacies has several versions, each of which is amazing in its own way. According to one of them, “Arkhangelsk roe” was previously a traditional baked goods of the Pomors (residents of the White Sea coast), since the very word “roe” in their language meant “snake” or “curl”. Another version says that gingerbread was originally baked in the shape of a goat, which in ancient times was considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity.
The history of Arkhangelsk roe gingerbread claims that their homeland is the well-known city of Arkhangelsk, which is where the name came from. Different settlements tied to a specific area have preserved their own techniques for baking and decorating gingerbread. It is worth noting that even in the same area they could differ radically from each other. The most famous gingerbreads are:
- flat painted ones, which appeared in the northern part of Russia back in the 18th century, when ordinary spices and sugar became available to ordinary people;
- Kargopol ones, which were created from a grain tow;
- voluminous Kholmogory ones, which were prepared from black dough, occasionally colored white.
In any case, northern roe deer are not just a national delicacy prepared according to a unique recipe, but a traditional ritual dish. The creation of such gingerbread is considered a complex ancient ritual, which originally had the deepest philosophical meaning.
Magic force
In ancient times, people believed that the “Arkhangelsk roe deer” had magical powers. According to some modern historians, in those days people first invented them not as food, but as ritual images of animals.
This version is also confirmed by the fact that the figures had to be cut in a specific way: they all had to look to the left. If a person was depicted on gingerbread cookies, then he had to be made facing forward. At the very bottom of the roe, people always left an empty stripe, which was a symbol of the earth.
Gingerbread in the old days
Previously, roe deer were baked only once a year. These were the days of Christmas and Christmas holidays. The peoples of the north believed that these delicacies would bring them wealth, prosperity and good luck to their home. They were considered a talisman and were often given to families.
On the eve of the holidays, all family members took part in such a rare event. Men always kneaded the dough, and women cut out various figures. Children also worked with them. They performed the final stage - decorating the dish.
On Christmas Day, all relatives, friends, neighbors and, of course, caroling children received roe deer as a gift. It was often given to domestic pets, since the northern peoples were completely confident that the cattle would in this case produce excellent offspring.
Gingerbread cookies were hung in stables and barns as amulets. They protected houses from the penetration of evil spirits and were used as an indispensable attribute for fortune telling by girls and boys on Epiphany evenings.
The roe deer never ate it right away. It was customary to store them for a while and only then eat them. Under no circumstances should a figurine that was given or made by yourself be thrown away, even if it was broken, as this was a direct path to failure.
Symbol of Pomerania in modern times
Today, “Arkhangelsk roe dogs” are baked not only in their homeland, but also in other areas. Modern people have long abandoned traditions, so they make them for any celebration as a delicious and original dessert. They are also actively used to decorate the Christmas tree, used in carols and used as children's toys.
Gingerbread at home
In the old days, gingerbread "Arkhangelsk Roe" baked real gingerbread, which kept the secret of preparing the dough, glaze and decorative decoration. The unique recipe, into which the cooks put their own twist, was passed down from generation to generation, but only through the female line.
At that time, figurines were made in a special way. First of all, we made the dough from rye flour. There are suggestions that it was against such a background that the glaze pattern looked most advantageous. The darkest flour was used for this. Salt was added to it and then kneaded vigorously. After some time, the dough began to be prepared from wheat flour, so burnt sugar was used to darken it.
Hereditary Arkhangelsk gingerbread makers note that baking delicacies must be done without haste and only in a good mood. At the same time, you need to think only about the good and protect yourself from strangers so that no one interferes.
Nowadays, gingerbread cookies are prepared not only according to the classic recipe that has come down from those times. Chefs have long come up with slightly modified baking methods. In any case, the cooking process will be exciting and long. It consists of only three stages:
- Preparing the dough.
- Bakery.
- Decoration.
Some of the best recipes that are suitable for all occasions are given below.
Honey roes
The traditional recipe for “Arkhangelsk roe” must be used before you begin to consider its modifications. The classic option is honey gingerbread.
For preparation you will need:
- 450 g flour (it is best to take wheat flour, but you can mix 300 g rye and 150 g wheat);
- 60 ml water;
- 150 g honey;
- 150 g sugar;
- 1 teaspoon of soda;
- 3 tablespoons butter;
- ground spices.
The recipe for "Arkhangelsk goats" with photos is presented below. If you strictly follow the instructions, you can end up with a unique dish that can surprise every person.
Step-by-step preparation
In fact, the recipe for “Arkhangelsk goats” is simple. First you need to prepare the roaster. First of all, sugar is melted, and then boiling water and honey are added to it. The result is a thick and quite sweet syrup. When it cools down a little, you can add butter and stir until smooth. Next, spices and soda are added to the resulting mixture. Immediately after this, pre-sifted flour is poured into it, and everything is thoroughly mixed so that there are no lumps left. The final step in preparing the dough is to knead it on a board, adding flour in small portions. In the end it should come out soft, elastic and similar in consistency to plasticine.
The finished dough should be cooled, then divided into several parts and rolled out. Next, the figures are carefully cut out along the contour with a knife or molds. Then the almost finished gingerbreads need to be greased with yolk (1 pc.) with water (0.5 cups) and placed on a baking sheet previously covered with parchment.
Bake the figures for about 10 minutes at 200 degrees. They should brown a little. The most important thing is to prevent them from drying out, as they will simply break.
Descendants of classic roe deer
Scientists suggest that there are not only classic northern roes, but also their descendants - the Ural gingerbread. They came to the Urals along with their creators - settlers from the north. The traditional recipe was slightly changed, since the new area had a completely different culture and traditions.
The ingredients for Ural roe deer are:
- 500 g honey;
- 500 g flour;
- 0.5 teaspoon of soda;
- spices to taste;
- a pair of eggs;
- 50 g butter;
- 1.5 glasses of water.
Gingerbread "Arkhangelsk roe": recipe
First you need to boil water and honey in a separate container. When this mixture has cooled a little, pour in the flour, add the eggs and other ingredients. All this is thoroughly mixed and kneaded by hand. Then, as in the previous recipe, pieces of dough are rolled out into layers, from which figures are subsequently cut out (this can be done either with a knife or with molds).
After laying out future gingerbread cookies on a baking sheet, they must be greased with yolk. They are baked at 200 degrees until golden brown. After the gingerbread cookies are ready, they need to be cooled and only then decorated with icing. If desired, they can be poured with syrup or sprinkled with coconut.
Gingerbread decoration
Both northern and Ural roe deer should be traditionally painted. They need to be painted with colored glaze. The most actively used color is white, because it is a symbol of snow, as well as pink, reflecting the northern lights. The brown color on a gingerbread cookie represents earth or wood.
The process of coloring roe deer cannot be called simple. Here you will have to show not only your imagination and taste, but also the skill of the artist. Indeed, in any case, the most important point in decorating the roe deer will be the careful painting with thin lines of sweet syrup.
The pattern on the delicacy can be absolutely anything. During the drawing process, you will definitely need a culinary syringe or an ordinary cone-shaped bag with a small hole. A good image can also be obtained with watercolor brushes or pencils with ready-made glaze.
It is worth remembering that in ancient times people drew patterns using a wooden stick. This method is still used today, but only by hereditary goat makers.
If you want to get more creative, you can first fill the gingerbread cookies with tinted liquid glaze of any color, and then, when the base has hardened thoroughly, begin to depict flowers, patterns and other elements on it. This method is quite good, but it takes a lot of time, since the glaze does not harden as quickly as we would like. But this gives modern chefs the opportunity to create entire works of art on gingerbread cookies.
Glaze
Having chosen the appropriate recipe for “Arkhangelsk roe deer”, do not forget about the glaze. There are many options for preparing it, but most often people use the classic one. For this you will need to take:
- a couple of egg whites;
- 5 drops of lemon juice;
- 5 tablespoons of powdered sugar;
- dyes.
First of all, you need to beat the whites with powdered sugar until the mass thickens. Then it needs to be distributed among the cups (depending on the number of colors used). It is best to take, of course, natural dyes, but food dyes are also suitable. As soon as the white mass is mixed with dyes and acquires a new color, the glaze is ready for use.
Natural colors are obtained in the following ways:
- white - milk, sour cream, powdered sugar;
- yellow - spinach juice, lime or lemon zest;
- red/pink - juice of raspberries, strawberries, beets, lingonberries, cranberries;
- brown - coffee, cocoa;
- orange - freshly squeezed orange or tangerine juice.
Festive gingerbread cookies always look like fairy-tale toys. They look interesting on the Christmas tree. Just a little patience - and this unique delicacy will become a wonderful decoration for any table, as well as an unexpected gift for relatives.
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