Nargis masterclass: charity gingerbreads

Another master class was held by Nargis magazine. Representatives of foreign embassies and representatives of international organizations participated at the charity event.


From left to right, top row: Norma Isaczai (resident coordinator spouse UN offices in Azerbaijan), Gabriella Solti (spouse of the ambassador of the Council of Europe), Dorottya Gruber-Kovacs (spouse of a diplomat on cultural and educational affairs, Hungary). In front: Susana Stalder (Switzerland), Timea Paszternak (the spouse of the Ambassador of Hungary to Azerbaijan), Marianna Kadar in national Hungarian outfit, Maria Ciopraga (spouse of TRACECA Secretary General), Linda Benmoussat (Algeria), Alya Leuca (Moldova).

On Friday, December 14, a private workshop on decorating traditional Hungarian gingerbreads was held at Ay Qonşu restaurant, organized by the Nargis magazine and the charity foundation in cooperation with the Hungarian embassy.

Upon the invitation made by Mrs. Timea Paszternak (the spouse of the Ambassador of Hungary to Azerbaijan), the spouses of foreign ambassadors and representatives of international organizations in Azerbaijan took part in the masterclass.

Timea Paszternak (the spouse of the Ambassador of Hungary to Azerbaijan)

Especially for this day, a famous Hungarian pastry chef Marianna Kadar arrived from Budapest. The guests watched a video of making gingerbreads, then under her conduction, they prepared sweet glaze, trained in drawing curls on separate cardboards and then proceeded to decorate gingerbread angels, bells and hearts.

Norma Isaczai (resident coordinator spouse UN offices in Azerbaijan) and Alya Leuca (Moldova)

Two hours flew by without notice behind laughter and warm talks.

Susana Stalder (Switzerland)

In addition to honey, eggs, flour and spices, a lot of love was invested in each cake, because they will delight children from boarding school No.5 with disabilities.

Maria Ciopraga (spouse of TRACECA Secretary General) and Linda Benmoussat (Algeria)

The master class was held as part of a charity project, which will end on Saturday, December 15, with a concert of famous Hungarian musicians - pianist Endre Hegedus and violinist Felix Lajko.

Funds collected from the sale of tickets, will go to the purchase of Braille devices that help blind and poorly seeing children to obtain reading and writing skills.

Mrs. Timea Pashzternak kindly shares with us the recipe of the gingerbread:

Sift 700 gr. flour
Above steaming water, heat 250 gr. honey together with 50 gr. margarine. Heat until the mixture almost burns the lips.
Break 2 eggs.
Sift 100 gr. caster sugar together with spices: 10 gr. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground allspice, 10 gr. honeybread mixture. Different mistresses add various spices from cloves to ginger.
Add the caster sugar - spice mix to the whipped egg, pour on the honeyed margarine and add the flour.
Mix all the ingredients with scissor-cutting motion. Use a much larger dish than the ingredients would otherwise need, thus you’ll have ample space to easily mixer.
Cover and make it rest for 24 hrs.

Make rolls from the prepared dough and put them in a plastic bag to avoid drying.
Spread flour on your working board and roll the dough to 3 mm. thickness.
With cutters, cut the desired shapes from the rolled dough.
Place them on a baking sheet, leaving a finger-size space between them.
Bake them in 170-175C. oven until golden brown.

Decorative icing:

Whisk one egg white 150-170 gr. caster sugar.
Pour the mixture into a small plastic bag, cut a small hole at one of the bottom corner and start decorating.

 

 

Project Coordinator: Arzu Jaeed, Text: Sona Nasibova, Photo: Parviz Gasimzade, Video: Ruslan Gorbunov