Peppers, the favorite of many, are prepared for Christmas and New Year. Paprenjaci got its name from pepper, which was a very expensive and rare spice in the past. August Šenoa himself says in his famous work that paprenjaci are autochthonous Croatian, and so is the Zagreb cake. "Jeweler's gold".
Today, paprenjak has become one of Zagreb's most famous tourist souvenirs, which guests from all over the world take home as a beautiful and delicious memory of Zagreb.
Below is a recipe for 40 to 50 peppers.
Peppers - recipe
ingredients:
400 g of smooth flour
120 g lard
150 g of sugar
½ teaspoons of cinnamon
½ teaspoons ground cloves
½ teaspoons of nutmeg
½ teaspoons ground black pepper
1 grated orange peel
1 pinch of salt
130 g of walnuts
1 egg
2 egg yolks
90 g of honey
<strong>Preparation: </strong>
Sift coarse and smooth flour into a suitable bowl, add ground walnuts, nutmeg, cinnamon powder, ground cloves, freshly ground pepper, salt, grated orange peel and mix the ingredients well. Then add the lard and work the mixture well with your fingers until it is granular. Then add a whole egg, two egg yolks and honey and mix the ingredients well with a food processor.
Transfer the resulting mixture to the work surface and knead the dough with your hands, shape it into a ball, wrap it in transparent kitchen foil and let it rest for 60 minutes in the cold. Dust the rested dough with flour and roll it out on a floured board to a thickness of approx. 0,5 cm.
We flour the relief molds for shaping the peppercorns and use them to press the desired relief shapes into the dough. Cut the decorated dough into appropriate squares, place them on a baking sheet, covered with baking paper, and bake everything together in the oven, heated to 200°C, for 25 minutes. Let the baked peppers cool down before serving.
Paprenjaci from the island of Hvar - Starogrojski paprenjok
On the island of Hvar, the inhabitants stick to tradition, and mothers and wives used to prepare paprenjak for their sons and husbands who were going sailing. The tradition of preparing this cake it was passed down from generation to generation. In the past, only a few women knew how to prepare real peppers in the city.

Today, paprenjaci are prepared for various occasions such as weddings, baptisms, birthdays or giving a child as a gift. Rarely can an island wedding go by without serving this delicacy. Peppers have become recognizable Croatian souvenir which is prepared in various forms, although it is believed that the original peppers were made in the shape of a horseshoe or a four-leaf clover.
Source: Advent Zagreb i Hvar Tourist Board
Cover photo: screenshot Youtube ZAGREBTOURIST / Zagreb Tourist Board