« Back to Christmas Baking « Back to Tree Decorations Apparently
the first written record of lebkuchen dates back to the 13th century.
The recipe seem to vary considerably, but the biscuits traditionally
contain honey, spices & nuts & in Germany it is the
custom to present them in highly decorative tin boxes -
something you might like to think of doing. Some
believe the name comes from the term leb-honig which
refers to the rather solid honey taken from bee hives that was
traditionally used for
baking. Ingredients:
250g honey
125g caster
sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground
allspice
½ tsp ground
cloves
finely grated
zest of ½ lemon
finely grated
zest of ½ orange
500g
plain flour (light rye flour if possible)
2 medium
eggs
85g butter,
melted
1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
150g mixed
finely chopped almonds
& candied peel (optional)
Beaten
egg white & flaked almonds to
decorate (or use a glaze after they have cooked) Method: Grease
4 baking
sheets Place honey in
a large pan over a low heat and
warm through. Remove
pan from the heat & stir in the sugar, the
spices
& the zests, then leave to cool. Once
this
mixture has cooled add the
flour, eggs & melted butter. Dissolve
the bicarb in 1 tbsp
water mix in
then add the nuts & peel if using & work the
ingredients together to
form a smooth dough. Leave
to rest in a cool place for 12 hours. Preheat
oven to 180C/Gas 4. Roll out the dough
on a lightly floured surface christmas.matters@gmail.com?subject=Feedback& cut out shapes using
biscuit cutters. Brush
each shape with a little beated egg white
& sprinkle
with flaked almonds (unless you plan to decorate later). Bake in oven
for about 15
mins or until
golden. Place on a wire rack to cool & store in an airtight
container for
about 2 weeks before eating.
You can hang these biscuits as decorations on your tree. Just
remember to use a skewer or a very sharp knife to make a hanging hole
in the biscuits as soon as they come out of the oven. When
giving edible gifts always follow our
advice on wrapping & presenting edible gifts. | 
