Although the original kozuli were not a sweet delicacy, modern times have made their own adjustments: the kozuli of the 21st century are baked from rich wheat dough, to which dark caramel (burnt sugar) or honey is added for color, as well as various spices: mainly cinnamon and cloves, but cardamom, nutmeg and ground ginger are also allowed. The gingerbread is dark brown, so the pattern of white or pink sugar glaze stands out very beautifully on it. In pre-revolutionary times, in wealthy homes, not only sugar fondant was used to decorate the Christmas delicacy, but even gold leaf.
Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, ground ginger – to taste.
Prepare burnt sugar, which will give the kozuli a brown color. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat 1 cup of sugar until dark brown, stirring occasionally, then carefully (it is best to do this in thick kitchen mittens) pour two cups of boiling water into the "burnt sugar" and add two more cups of sugar. This mixture must be mixed well, without removing from the heat, to obtain a homogeneous mass, and then cool slightly.
Combine butter, spices and burnt sugar mixture, mix well and let cool to the temperature of hot tea (about 50 degrees). You can add honey for flavor, but it is not necessary.
Lightly beat two yolks and one whole egg in a separate kuwait mobile database bowl (do not throw away the whites, they will come in handy for the glaze), mix into the butter-spice mixture, add salt and soda, and then add sifted flour in portions to get a dense dough. After this, the dough should be wrapped in film and put in a cold place for 12 hours, or for a day or more - it is believed that over time the dough becomes more plastic and convenient for sculpting.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 4-5 mm and cut out figures using molds. You can also use the ancient Pomor method and mold figures from thin strands of dough. Place the blanks on a baking sheet covered with parchment, grease with yolk and bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the glaze: beat the egg whites with the powdered sugar until you get a white, opaque mass. Color some of the glaze with cranberry, sea buckthorn, or viburnum juice to get pink, orange, or red. Transfer the glaze to plastic bags so it doesn't dry out.
After the gingerbread cookies are baked, they should stand at room temperature for at least a day: during this time, the New Year's gingerbread cookies will give up excess moisture and become crispy, but not brittle. If you want to hang the baked goods as decorations on the Christmas tree, make holes for the thread in the still warm gingerbread cookies before they dry out.
And finally, the final stage is decorating the gingerbread with sugar glaze. Cut off the corners of the bags and squeeze the sugar-protein mass onto the kozuli, creating patterns. After decorating, the gingerbread should be left to dry for 1-2 hours - and you can serve it on the table or hang it on the Christmas tree.