Christmas gingerbread is a traditional holiday treat, which has long been very popular in Europe. The homeland of this sweetness is Germany. Here it is called Lebkuchen. We will talk about what German Christmas gingerbread cookies are, photos of which on the eve of the New Year holidays can be found almost everywhere, as well as how to cook them at home.
History
As already mentioned, Germany became the birthplace of Christmas gingerbread. According to researchers, the Franconian monks invented the recipe for this sweetness in the XIII century. However, the Lebcuchenians also had predecessors, which in ancient times were simply called honey cakes. The inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire indulged themselves with them. In those days, it was believed that honey was the real gift of the gods, endowed with magical and healing properties. Cakes made from this product were used as talismans and charms. Germanic peoples also used this baking for similar purposes, paying special attention to it during the celebration of the winter solstice. It is possible that for this reason, honey gingerbread began to be associated with Christmas. Today they are very popular not only in their homeland, but also in many other countries. Modern Christmas gingerbread is a pastry, which includes honey, almonds, citron and a number of ingredients. Often they give it a funny shape, and also decorate it with white or multi-colored glaze.
Christmas Honey Gingerbread Cookies: A Simple Recipe
This method of preparing lebcuchenes is not only relatively easy, but, one might say, classic. Therefore, if you want to pamper your household and guests with a real German Christmas carrot, use our tips.
Ingredients
This recipe for honey gingerbread (home) involves the use of a wide variety of products. In order not to spoil the pastries, you should take care of their availability in advance. So, the following ingredients will be required:
- 500 grams of rye flour
- 300 grams of wholemeal flour ,
- 400 grams of brown sugar
- 12 tablespoons of flower honey
- 4 eggs,
- 90 grams of butter,
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda,
- 20 grams of cocoa powder
- one lemon
- one teaspoon of ground cinnamon and cloves,
- 100 grams of candied orange peel ,
- 60 grams of candied lemon peel,
- 100 grams of raisins,
- 140 grams of hazelnuts.
We will use the listed products for the preparation of Christmas gingerbread dough. The recipe for this baking also involves the preparation of glaze to decorate the culinary product. We will do it from two egg yolks and three tablespoons of milk.
Inventory
In order to make lebcuchene go without a hitch, you should take care not only about the ingredients. Inventory will also be required:
- cutting board,
- tablespoons and teaspoons
- knife,
- a bowl
- some saucers
- a small bowl
- Turk or a small pan,
- whisk or mixer,
- a pair of medium-sized bowls,
- cling film
- grater,
- rolling pin
- confectionery molds
- baking paper
- kitchen potholders,
- serving dish
- pastry brush.
Cooking process
So, if you bought all the necessary products and acquired the required equipment, you can proceed to the creation of lebkuchen. German honey gingerbread (homemade), we start cooking by chopping lemon and orange candied fruit into small pieces. Then chop the hazelnuts with a knife. Now let's get raisins. We pour it into the bowl, fill it with cold water and leave it to swell for a while. After this, drain the water and wash the raisins several times under running water. Dry it a little with a paper towel or napkins, put it on a cutting board and chop it finely with a knife.
We wash the lemon, dry it and rub it on a fine grater. We will get aromatic zest. Cut the butter into small pieces and leave it to warm at room temperature for a while. In a small bowl, break the eggs and beat them with a mixer or whisk until a homogeneous consistency.
So, we continue to figure out how to make honey gingerbread at home. We take a Turk or a small pot and put honey in it, and then we add cane sugar. We put on the stove, turn on a small fire and, constantly stirring, heat until the mass becomes homogeneous. Remove from the stove.
Cooking dough
In a bowl, combine the hot sugar-honey mixture and softened pieces of butter. Using a spoon, mix everything until smooth. Pour the eggs and beat with a mixer. In a separate bowl we combine two types of flour, cocoa powder, soda and other dry ingredients. Mix them with a whisk or a spoon. Gradually add the flour mixture to the honey-oil mass and knead the dough. It is most convenient to do this with your hands.
To make the German Christmas gingerbread delicious and fragrant, in the process of kneading the dough, add prepared chopped nuts, candied fruits, raisins and lemon zest to it. Knead the dough thoroughly until a dense, homogeneous and easily lagging mass is obtained. Sprinkle a little flour onto the work surface and put the dough on it. We roll it into a thick sausage with our hands, wrap it in cling film and send it to the freezer for about half an hour. After that we transfer the dough into the refrigerator and leave it for several hours (best of all for the night).
We form gingerbread cookies
After the finished dough spends several hours in the refrigerator, you can proceed to one of the most interesting stages - the formation of future lebcuchenes.
So, sprinkle a little flour on the kitchen table and put on it a sausage made of dough, freed from food film. Using a rolling pin, we begin to roll it into a layer, the thickness of which should be at least five millimeters. What shape each Christmas gingerbread will be, it's up to you. Therefore, armed with confectionery molds, cut out small figures from the dough. We shift them onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. From the remains of the dough we again make a sausage, roll it into a layer and again form future gingerbread cookies.
We cook the icing and bake lebcuchene
After we have formed future gingerbread cookies and laid them on a baking sheet, turn on the oven 175 degrees. While it is warming up, let's take care of the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks and milk. Using a whisk, beat the ingredients to a uniform consistency. Our glaze is ready. Armed with a pastry brush, glaze the surface of our gingerbread cookies. We send the pan to the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. After this time, we extract our wonderful festive dessert and leave to cool.
The German Christmas gingerbread prepared according to this recipe is very tasty and fragrant. Such pastries will surely appeal to all your households and guests. Be sure to try to prepare Lebukchen for a festive tea party!
Additional tips
Here are a few culinary recommendations related to the preparation of German Christmas gingerbread cookies:
- You can easily replace rye flour in the recipe with corn or wheat;
- on average, the thickness of the finished gingerbread is 0.5-1 cm. But the thicker your culinary product is, the softer it will be inside;
- the finished dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks;
- for the preparation of lebcuchenes, you can use not only the spices indicated by us, you can add ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, anise, star anise and other products to the dough to your taste;
- The great advantage of Lebcuchenes is their long shelf life - so if you put them in a glass or tin can that closes tightly, they will not become blackened and will retain their aroma for several weeks.
Lebkuchen decoration options
Christmas cakes, the recipe of which we have provided, can be covered not only with ordinary glaze from milk and egg yolks. You can use any option of jewelry to your taste. As an example, we give a couple of glaze options for Lebkuchen.
Icing
To prepare it, we need already beaten egg white - 1 tablespoon, lemon juice - 1 tablespoon, icing sugar - from 75 to 110 grams. Mix the protein and lemon juice in a bowl, and then gradually begin to drive the powdered sugar. A smooth mass should be obtained that resembles cream in consistency. Such glaze applied to the surface of the gingerbread forms a thin sugar coating.
Royal icing
This recipe for glaze is often used by those cooks and housewives who want to decorate the Christmas gingerbread beautifully and exquisitely. You can even apply it on the baking surface with a thin brush. In addition, liquid or dry dyes are often added to the glaze, which makes lebcuchenes bright and truly festive.
So, to prepare the royal icing, we need the following ingredients: one egg white and about 200 grams of icing sugar. First, beat the protein lightly. Then little by little we add powder to it, thoroughly whipping. As a result, we should get a homogeneous mixture, forming soft peaks. If it is not planned to immediately use the icing to decorate the gingerbread, it can be placed in a small bowl, without forgetting to cover the surface with cling film, which will prevent the formation of crust. Ready glaze can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.