Zakarpatskyi Prianyk gingerbread, Uzhhorod

Zakarpatskyi Prianyk (“Transcarpathian gingerbread”) is a family bakery in Uzhhorod that has been baking honey-ginger gingerbread with natural honey since 2008. The brand name translates the Hungarian Kárpátaljai Mézeskalács, and that says a lot: honey gingerbread is no imported novelty in Zakarpattia but part of a shared Central European tradition kept alive here for centuries by Hungarian, Ukrainian, Slovak and German families. Today the brand’s gingerbread is one of the most popular edible souvenirs people take home from Uzhhorod.

A family story

The bakery’s story begins with Christmas memories. Yulius Adamik loved Christmas: every year before the holidays he baked pastries and gingerbread with his daughters and told them family stories. He died young and his wife Melaniia raised the girls, but the tradition lived on. The elder daughter, Larysa, became a confectioner and at Christmas baked gingerbread houses, trees and snowflakes for family and friends. People liked them so much that the first orders came in, then a bakery of her own, and in 2012 a registered trademark.

Why go

The best way to get to know Zakarpatskyi Prianyk is to visit the brand’s shop-café at 26 Shvabska Street, close to Uzhhorod’s historic centre. It sells the full range of gingerbread and lekvar, serves coffee and craft drinks, and has a terrace in a cosy courtyard. It makes a handy stop on a walk around town: take a break, try a gingerbread with your coffee and pick a gift box. Chocolate-coated honey gingerbread usually travels well, so it is a convenient present for family, colleagues or friends abroad. Gingerbread-decorating workshops are not advertised on the website, so if you want to come as a group or with children, ask by phone.

What to try and buy

• Honey-ginger gingerbread with nuts — with hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts in milk, dark or white chocolate.
• Classic honey gingerbread sets — with cocoa, chilli, sunflower and pumpkin seeds or chocolate chips.
• A large gingerbread filled with plum lekvar in dark chocolate — for those who like honey with a fruity tang.
• Plum lekvar — a traditional thick Transcarpathian plum butter made without sugar and cooked in a cauldron for at least 12 hours; in 2022 lekvar was added to Ukraine’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
• Christmas gingerbread houses, trees and snowflakes — the seasonal pieces the brand started with.

Iced honey gingerbread was a fixture of fairs and church feasts in the towns of Austria-Hungary, and Transcarpathian families baked it for Christmas and Easter. A heart-shaped gingerbread was a gift for a sweetheart, and gingerbread houses decorated the festive table. The Uzhhorod bakery carries on this tradition, combining honey, spices and local lekvar.

Practical information

• Shop-café address: 26 Shvabska St., Uzhhorod.
• Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00–20:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–19:00 (according to the website; worth checking before you go).
• Prices (website): 100 g gingerbread about 105 UAH, 180 g set 100–115 UAH, 200 g chocolate-coated gingerbread 160–175 UAH, 200 g lekvar 250 UAH.
• Delivery: orders from prianyk.com are shipped by Nova Poshta or Ukrposhta, free from 1,500 UAH. The website also has sections on partnership and franchising.
• Contacts: +38 066 849 94 64, [email protected].

Please confirm by phone before your trip.

Getting there

Trains run to Uzhhorod from Kyiv, Lviv and other cities, as do buses; by car the city is easily reached on the M06 highway via Mukachevo. Shvabska Street is close to the centre, so from Petőfi Square or Nezalezhnosti Embankment you can walk to the shop or take a taxi for a few minutes.

Website and social media: prianyk.com · facebook.com

Photos: zaktour.gov.ua; prianyk.com.