German Christmas Gingerbread. Recipes, photos

Christmas Gingerbread is a traditional holiday delicacy, which has long enjoyed great popularity in Europe. Homeland of this sweetness is Germany. Here it is called "lebkuchen". About what the German Christmas gingerbread represents, photos of which on the eve of New Year's holidays can be found almost everywhere, as well as how to cook them at home, we'll talk today.

History

As already mentioned, Germany was the birthplace of Christmas gingerbread. According to researchers, the recipe for this sweetness was invented by Franconian monks as far back as the 13th century. However, the lebkuhens also had precursors, which in ancient times were simply called honey cakes. They spoiled themselves still the inhabitants of ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire. In those days, it was believed that honey - this is a real gift of the gods, endowed with magical and healing properties. Cooked from this product flat cakes used as talismans and amulets. The German peoples also used this pastry for a similar purpose, paying special attention to it in the days of the celebration of the winter solstice. It is possible that it is for this reason that honey cakes have been associated with Christmas. Today they are very popular not only in their homeland, but also in many other countries. A modern Christmas gingerbread is a batch consisting of honey, almonds, citron and a number of other ingredients. Often it is given a funny shape, and also decorated with white or multi-colored glaze.

Christmas honey cakes: simple recipe

This method of preparation of lebkuhenes is not only relatively easy, but, it can be said, classical. Therefore, if you want to pamper your households and guests with a real German Christmas carrot, use our tips.

Ingredients

This recipe for honey gingerbread (home-made) involves the use of very diverse products. In order not to spoil the baking, you should take care of their availability in advance. So, you need the following ingredients:

• 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 fruit from orange peel ,
• 60 grams of candied fruit from lemon peel,
• 100 grams of raisins,
• 140 grams of hazelnut.

We will use the listed products to prepare a test for Christmas gingerbread. The recipe for this baking also involves preparing the glaze for decorating the culinary product. We will make it from two egg yolks and three tablespoons of milk.

Inventory

In order to prepare the lebkuhenes without a hitch without a hitch, you should take care not only of the ingredients. It will also require an inventory:

• cutting board,
• Table and teaspoons,
• knife,
• Bowl,
• Several saucers,
• A small bowl,
• Turk or a small saucepan,
• Corolla or mixer,
• A pair of medium sized bowls,
• Food film,
• grater,
• Rolling pin,
• Confectionery molds,
• Paper for baking,
• Kitchen potholders,
• Serving dish,
• Confectionery brush.

Cooking process

So, if you bought all the necessary products and got the required inventory, you can proceed to create lebkuhen. German honey gingerbread cookies (homemade) we start with the fact that we cut lemon and orange candied fruits into small pieces. Then knife chop the hazelnuts. Now let's deal with raisins. We pour it into the bowl, fill it with cold water and leave it for a while to swell. After this, drain the water and several times wash the raisins under running water. Slightly dry it with a paper towel or napkins, put on a cutting board and finely cut with a knife.

Lemon is washed, dried and on a fine grater we rub the skin. We will have a fragrant peel. Cut the butter into small pieces and leave to warm for a while at room temperature. In a small bowl, break the eggs and beat them with a mixer or whisk until a uniform consistency is obtained.

So, we continue to figure out how to make gingerbread cookies at home. Take a Turk or a small pot and put honey in it, and then fall asleep sugar cane. We put on the stove, turn on a small fire and, constantly stirring, heat until the mass becomes homogeneous. We remove from the plate.

Cooking dough

In a bowl, we connect the hot sugar-honey mixture and the softened pieces of butter. Using a spoon, stir everything until it is uniform. Fill the eggs and mix with a mixer. In a separate bowl, combine two kinds 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-butter mass and knead the dough. It is most convenient to do this with your hands.

To make the German Christmas gingerbread turned out very tasty and aromatic, in the process of kneading the dough, add to it prepared crushed nuts, candied fruits, raisins and lemon zest. We knead the dough thoroughly until a dense, homogenous and easily lagging weight is obtained. Slightly sprinkle the working surface with flour and spread the dough on it. We roll it in thick sausage, wrap it in a food film and send it to the freezer for about half an hour. After that, shift the dough into the refrigerator and leave for a few hours (preferably at night).

We form cakes

After the finished dough will spend several hours in the refrigerator, you can proceed to one of the most interesting stages - the formation of future lebkuhens.

So, we sprinkle the kitchen table a little with flour and lay out on it the sausage from the dough, freed from the food film. With the help of a rolling pin, we begin to roll it into a layer, the thickness of which should be at least five millimeters. What form will every Christmas carrot, it's up to you. Therefore, armed with confectionery molds, we cut out small figures from the dough. We shift them to a pan covered with parchment paper. From the remains of the dough, we again make sausage, roll it into a layer and again form the future gingerbread.

We prepare the glaze and bake the lebkuhens

After we formed the future gingerbread and put them on a baking tray, turn on the oven for 175 degrees. While it is heated, we will glaze. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks and milk. Whisk the ingredients to a homogeneous consistency. Our glaze is ready. Armed with a pastry brush, cover the surface of our gingerbread with glaze. We send the pan to the heated oven for 13-15 minutes. After this time, we extract our wonderful festive dessert and leave it to cool.

German Christmas gingerbread cooked according to this recipe, it turns out very tasty and fragrant. Such baking is sure to please all your household members and guests. Be sure to try to prepare lebkuchen for a festive tea party!

Additional tips

Here are a few recommendations from the culinary specialists regarding the preparation of German Christmas gingerbread:

• Rye flour in the recipe you can easily replace corn or wheat;
• On average, the thickness of the finished gingerbread is 0.5-1 cm. But the thicker your culinary product, the softer it will be inside;
• Ready-made dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks;
• For the preparation of lebkuhenes, you can use not only the spices indicated by us, you can add ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, sweet pepper, anise, baden and other products to your taste in the dough;
• The great advantage of lebkuhenes is their long shelf life - so if you put them in a glass or tin tightly closed jar, they will not harden and retain their fragrance for a few weeks.

Decoration options for lebkuhen

Christmas gingerbread, the recipe of which we brought, can be covered not only with ordinary glaze of milk and egg yolks. You can use any variant of the decoration to your taste. As examples, we give a couple of variants of the glaze for lebkuhen.

Icing

For its preparation, we need already whipped egg white - 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 start to drive in powdered sugar. You should get a smooth mass, a creamy consistency. This glaze, applied to the surface of the carrot, forms a thin sugar shell.

Royal icing

This recipe glaze is often used by those cooks and housewives who want to beautifully and exquisitely decorate the Christmas carrot. Apply it to the surface of baking can even a thin brush. In addition, liquid or dry dyes are often added to the glaze, which makes it possible to make lebkuhens 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. First, lightly beat the protein. Then add a little powder to it, whisking it well. As a result, we should get a homogeneous mixture that forms soft peaks. If you do not plan to immediately use the glaze to decorate gingerbread, it can be placed in a small bowl, without forgetting to cover the surface with food film that will prevent the formation of a crust. Ready glaze can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.