Lebkuchen
Spiced gingerbread cookies
Nuremberg Elisenlebkuchen: soft nut and spice Christmas cookies on wafers
GermanNuremberg has been the German capital of Lebkuchen since the Middle Ages, when the city sat on the spice trade routes, and at its Christkindlesmarkt the stalls are piled with them every Advent. The finest kind, Elisenlebkuchen, contain almost no flour: they're made mostly of ground nuts, candied peel, eggs, sugar and a warm spice mix, baked on thin Oblaten wafers so they stay soft and chewy inside, then glazed with chocolate or sugar. They keep for weeks in a tin and get better as they rest. Chef's tip: bake them only until just set; a common mistake is baking until firm, which makes them dry and hard by the next day.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 20
Ingredients
For the Lebkuchen
- 3 eggs
- 7 oz brown sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 5 ½ oz ground almonds
- 5 ½ oz ground hazelnuts
- 3 ½ oz candied orange and lemon peelvery finely chopped
- 1 ⅜ oz plain flour
- 2 tbsp Lebkuchen or gingerbread spiceor 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp each ground ginger and allspice, ½ tsp each cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 20 Oblaten wafers (7 cm)or bake on baking paper
For the glazes
- 5 ½ oz dark chocolatechopped
- 2 ⅞ oz icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 ⅜ oz blanched almond halves (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Whisk 3 eggs, 7 oz brown sugar and 1 tbsp honey with an electric mixer for 5–6 minutes, until thick, pale and foamy.
6 minStep 2: Mix 5 ½ oz ground almonds, 5 ½ oz ground hazelnuts, 3 ½ oz candied orange and lemon peel, 1 ⅜ oz plain flour, 2 tbsp Lebkuchen or gingerbread spice, 1 tsp lemon zest, ½ tsp baking powder and 1 pinch salt, then fold into the egg mixture to make a thick, sticky paste. Cover and rest for 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge) so the nuts absorb the moisture.
30 minStep 3: Heat the oven to 325°F (275°F fan). Lay 20 Oblaten wafers (7 cm) on lined trays. With wet hands or a wet knife, spread a heaped tablespoon of paste onto each wafer, doming it up to about 1.5 cm high and stopping 2 mm short of the edge. Press 3 1 ⅜ oz blanched almond halves on any you plan to sugar-glaze.
Step 4: Bake for 18–20 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden but still soft when gently pressed in the middle. Cool on a rack.
20 minStep 5: Melt 5 ½ oz dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Mix 2 ⅞ oz icing sugar with 1 tbsp lemon juice to a thick, smooth glaze.
Step 6: Dip or brush half the Lebkuchen with chocolate and brush the rest with the sugar glaze. Leave to set for an hour, then store in an airtight tin with a slice of apple for up to 4 weeks.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 200 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lebkuchen take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
- What can I use instead of brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
Basque burnt cheesecake
This crustless cheesecake was created in the early 1990s at La Viña, a pintxos bar in the old town of San Sebastián (Donostia) in the Basque Country, and is now famous around the world. It's baked very hot so the top caramelises almost black and the sides rise and crack, while the middle stays soft and creamy, almost runny. There's no base and no water bath, and the rough, rustic look is the point: it's lined with crumpled baking paper. La Viña uses a spoonful of wheat flour; cornflour does the same job and keeps it gluten free. Chef's tip: take it out of the oven while the centre still wobbles like a soft set custard; it firms up as it cools, and if it looks set in the oven, the middle will be dry instead of creamy.
Spanish
Reform tortaWalnut meringue chocolate cake
Belgrade pastry shops have sold reform torta since the early twentieth century, and it is still the cake Serbian families bring out for birthdays, weddings and the slava. Three thin layers of walnut meringue, crisp at the edge and chewy inside, are stacked with a dense chocolate butter cream made with egg yolks cooked over steam until thick. It is very rich, so cut thin slices and serve with strong coffee. The usual slip is beating the butter into a chocolate mixture that is still warm, which melts it and splits the cream; let it cool to room temperature first. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before; overnight in the fridge the meringue softens a little and the cake slices cleanly with a hot knife.