Cousin Jennys Hungarian Honey Cake Recipes

Steps:

• DAY BEFORE BAKING:.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda.
• Melt together the butter and the honey, pour over the flour combination and stir to mix.
• Add 1 egg and knead together. The dough should be soft (you can add a bit of lukewarm water if necessary), since it will harden a bit during its resting period.
• Cover the dough in a bowl and let it rest at least one day at room temperature.
• BAKING DAY:.
• Rolling out the dough is easiest between two pieces of waxed paper.
• Cut desired shapes out of the dough (of about 3/8 inches thickness on average).
• Before baking, brush with the yolk of an egg to which a few drops of red food coloring have been added. If you are decorating with seeds, brush dough with egg white to "paste" seeds on top of dough before baking.
• (Alternately, let the honey cakes rest a few days and then decorate with colored sugar icings.).
• Place cut out pieces of dough on a cold, greased cookie sheet, bake at 350 degrees F. (or less) for about 6-8 minutes. Thicker pieces may need a longer time (ovens temperatures also vary).
• DECORATION:.
• If icing cookies, let the honey cakes rest a few days and then decorate with colored sugar icings.
• MAKE VARIOUS COLORED SUGAR ICINGS:.
• Colored sugar icing, one version: To one egg white, add as much sifted powdered sugar as needed to make fairly stiff paste. Add desired food colorings, separated by color. (Do not use a mixer!)
• Spoon this mixture into a small nylon baggie, cut a tiny hole in one corner, roll up and use like a pencil to draw and color.