Lebkuchen recipe for Christmas
[NOTE: Regulars here may remember that most years I put up a family Christmas recipe. And here it is again.]
This recipe was brought over from Germany sometime in the mid-1800s, and was my favorite of all the wonderful treats cooked by my great-aunt Flora, a baker of rare gifts. She and my great-uncle were not only exceptionally wonderful people, but to my childish and wondering eyes they looked very much like Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.
The name of the treat is lebkuchen, but it’s quite a different one from the traditional recipe, which I don’t much care for. This is sweet and dense, can be made ahead, and keeps very well when stored in tins.
Flora’s Lebkuchen:
(preheat the oven to 375 degrees)
1 pound dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 oz. chopped dates
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon).
Beat the eggs and brown sugar together with a rotary beater till the mixture forms the ribbon. Add the orange juice, lemon juice, and extracts to it.
Add the dry mixture to it, a little at a time, stirring.
Add the raisins, dates, and walnuts.
Grease and flour two 9X9 cake pans. Put batter in pans and bake for about 25 minutes (or a little less; test the cake with a cake tester to see if it’s done). You don’t want it to get too dark and dry on the edges, but the middle can’t still be wet when tested.
Meanwhile, make the frosting.
Melt about 6 Tbs. of unsalted butter and add 2 Tbs. hot milk, and 1 Tbs. almond extract. Add enough confectioner’s sugar to make a frosting of spreading consistency (the recipe says “2 cups,” but I’ve always noticed that’s not exactly correct). You can make even more frosting if you like a lot of frosting.
Let cake cool to at least lukewarm, and spread generously with the frosting. Then cut into small pieces and store (or eat!).
Enjoy!
That sounds good. My baking experience is pretty much limited to Rye Bread.
I make this every year. I add some coriander and ginger for extra spice.
I can buy Lebkuchen everywhere here, so I’ve never tried to make it. I have sent some German baking books to people in the US. BTW, people here love brownies, so that’s what I make to take to parties.
expat, this lebkuchen recipe has more the texture of brownies, instead of the small hard rectangles one has grown to expect of lebkuchen.
BTW, when I served this in TX to a friend, he asked if the recipe were German.
I’ve just about stopped baking (so much is available at stores) but this recipe tempts me every year.
Maybe this time….
Merry Christmas to Neo and all the gang here at the Best Blog on the Webz.
I lifted this from This Week in Pictures.
https://i0.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2018/12/IMG_1087.jpg?w=640&ssl=1