Russian Gingerbread

Pryaniki are the oldest Russian sweet. The earliest cakes were rather coarse, heavily spiced and baked without any leavening at all, but over the ages their texture and flavor have been refined. Many different varieties of pryaniki can be found, according to region and local method, but the most classic of all are those resembling a chewy, spicy gingerbread, dense instead of crisp. Such pryaniki are still baked in the city of Tula, south of Moscow, a city renowned as well for its beautifull