German Christmas gingerbread. Recipes, photos

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Christmas gingerbread is a traditional holiday treat that has long been very popular in Europe. The birthplace of this sweet is Germany. Here it is called "lebkuchen". Today we will talk about what German Christmas gingerbread is, photos of which can be found almost everywhere on the eve of the New Year holidays, as well as how to cook them at home.

History

As already mentioned, Germany became the birthplace of Christmas gingerbread. According to researchers, the recipe for this sweet was invented by Franconian monks back in the 13th century. However, the Lebkuchens also had predecessors, which in ancient times were simply called honey cakes. The inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire pampered themselves with them. In those days, it was believed that honey is a real gift from the gods, endowed with magical and healing properties. Cakes made from this product were used as talismans and amulets. The Germanic peoples also used this pastry for similar purposes, paying special attention to it during the celebration of the winter solstice. It is quite possible that it isFor 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 other ingredients. Often it is given a funny shape, and also decorated with white or multi-colored icing.

Christmas honey gingerbread recipe easy

This method of making lebkuchen is not only relatively easy, but also, one might say, classic. Therefore, if you want to treat your family and guests to a real German Christmas gingerbread, use our tips.

Ingredients

This recipe for honey gingerbread (homemade) 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, you will need the following ingredients:

• 500 grams of rye flour,
• 300 grams 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 each 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.

The listed products weWe will use it to make dough for Christmas gingerbread. The recipe for this baking also involves the preparation of glaze to decorate the culinary product. We will make it from two egg yolks and three tablespoons of milk.

Inventory

In order for the preparation of lebkuchen to go off without a hitch, you should take care not only about the ingredients. You will also need inventory:

• chopping board,
• tablespoons and teaspoons,
• knife,
• bowl,
• a few saucers,
• small bowl,
• turk or small pot,
• whisker or mixer,
• a pair of medium-sized bowls,
• food film,
• grater,
• rolling pin,
• confectionery molds,
• baking paper,
• kitchen potholders,
• serving dish,
• pastry brush.

Cooking process

So, if you have bought all the necessary products and acquired the required equipment, you can proceed to the creation of lebkuchens. We will start preparing German honey gingerbread (homemade) by cutting candied lemon and orange candied fruits into small pieces. Then chop the hazelnuts with a knife. Now let's take a look at the raisins. We pour it into a bowl, fill it with cold water and leave it to swell for a while. After that, drain the water and rinse 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 finelyknife.

Rinse the lemon, dry it and rub the peel on a fine grater. We will get a fragrant zest. Cut the butter into small pieces and leave to warm up at room temperature for a while. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat them with a mixer or whisk until smooth.

So, we continue to find out how to cook honey gingerbread at home. We take a Turk or a small saucepan and put honey in it, and then add cane sugar. We put on the stove, turn on a small fire and, stirring constantly, heat until the mass becomes homogeneous. Remove from stove.

Preparing the dough

In a bowl, combine the hot sugar-honey mixture and softened pieces of butter. Mix everything with a spoon until smooth. Pour in the eggs and beat with a mixer. In a separate bowl, combine two types of flour, cocoa powder, soda and other dry ingredients. Mix them with a whisk or spoon. Gradually add the flour mixture to the honey-butter mass and knead the dough. It is most convenient to do this with your hands.

To make the German Christmas gingerbread very tasty and fragrant, in the process of kneading the dough, add prepared chopped nuts, candied fruits, raisins and lemon zest to it. Knead the dough well until you get a dense, homogeneous mass that easily lags behind your hands. Dust a work surface lightly with flour and place the dough on it. We roll it with our hands into a thick sausage, wrap it incling film and send to the freezer for about half an hour. After that, we transfer the dough to the refrigerator and leave it for several hours (preferably overnight).

Forming gingerbread

After the finished dough has spent several hours in the refrigerator, you can proceed to one of the most interesting stages - the formation of future lebkuchen.

So, sprinkle a little flour on the kitchen table and put the dough sausage freed from the cling film on it. 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 is up to you. Therefore, armed with confectionery molds, we cut out small figures from the dough. Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. From the rest of the dough we again make a sausage, roll it into a layer and again form future gingerbread cookies.

Cooking glaze and baking lebkuchen

After we have formed future gingerbread cookies and put them on a baking sheet, turn on the oven at 175 degrees. While it's heating up, let's make the frosting. In a small bowl, combine egg yolks and milk. Whisk the ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Our frosting is ready. Armed with a pastry brush, cover the surface of our gingerbread with icing. We send the baking sheet to the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. After this time, we take out our wonderful holiday dessert and leave to cool.

German Christmas gingerbread,prepared according to this recipe, it turns out very tasty and fragrant. Such pastries will surely please all your household and guests. Be sure to try the lebkuchen for your tea party!

Extra Tips

Here are some culinary recommendations related to the preparation of German Christmas gingerbread:

• rye flour in the recipe you can easily replace corn or wheat flour;
• on average, the thickness of finished gingerbread is 0.5-1 cm. But the thicker your culinary product is, the softer it will be inside;
• ready-made dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks;
• to make lebkuchen, you can use not only the spices indicated by us, you can add ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, anise, star anise and other products to your taste in the dough;
• The big advantage of lebkuchens is their long shelf life - so if you put them in a glass or tin tightly sealed jar, they will not stale and retain their flavor for several weeks.

Lebkuchen decoration options

Christmas gingerbread, the recipe of which we have given, can be covered not only with ordinary icing from milk and egg yolks. You can use any decoration option you like. As examples, here are a couple of glaze options for lebkuchen.

Icing sugar

For its preparation, we need already beaten eggprotein - 1 tablespoon, lemon juice - 1 tablespoon, powdered sugar - from 75 to 110 grams. Mix the protein and lemon juice in a bowl, and then gradually begin to beat in the powdered sugar. You should get a smooth mass, similar in texture to cream. This glaze, applied to the surface of the gingerbread, forms a thin sugar shell.

Royal icing

This glaze recipe is often used by those chefs and housewives who want to beautifully and elegantly decorate Christmas gingerbread. You can even apply it to the baking surface with a thin brush. In addition, liquid or dry dyes are often added to the glaze, which allows you to make lebkuchen bright and truly festive.

So, to prepare the royal icing, we need the following ingredients: one egg white and about 200 grams of powdered sugar. To begin with, lightly beat the protein. Then gradually add the powder to it, beating well. As a result, we should get a homogeneous mixture that forms soft peaks. If you don't plan to use the icing right away to decorate the gingerbread, you can place it in a small bowl, remembering to cover the surface with cling film to prevent crusting. Ready glaze can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.