Honey spice bread (Коврижка медова) is a GOST recipe for a traditional Eastern European honey cake — a dense, fragrant loaf made with natural honey, spices (typically a dry perfume blend of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg), and sometimes raisins or candied fruit. Kovryzhka is closely related to gingerbread (pryaniki) but is baked as a larger loaf rather than individual pieces.
Recipe (industrial formulation)
- First-grade wheat flour — 100.0 kg
- Natural honey — 40.0 kg
- Granulated sugar — 15.0 kg
- Margarine (TS 84%) — 8.0 kg
- Mélange — 5.0 kg
- Raisins — 10.0 kg
- Dry perfume (spice blend) — 0.5 kg
- Sodium bicarbonate — 0.8 kg
- Ammonium bicarbonate — 0.3 kg
- Salt — 0.3 kg
- Sugar syrup for glazing — as needed
Technological notes
Honey spice bread can be prepared by either the raw (syrtsevoy) or scalded (zavarney) method. In the scalded method, flour is mixed with hot honey-sugar syrup and aged for several days before adding other ingredients — this produces a deeper flavor and better shelf life. Chemical leavening agents provide the rise. The dough is deposited into rectangular molds and baked at 180–200 °C for 30–45 minutes. After baking, the surface is glazed with sugar syrup for a characteristic sticky shine. Final moisture: 20–24%.
TS = total solids.