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Lebkuchen or Honey Cakes
Lebkuchen is from the word leben meaning to live.1 The name appropriately describes the long-lasting quality of these homemade cookies. They can last indefinitely in an airtight container and even taste much better with age.
These honey cakes are perfect to prepare long in advance. Just hold the glaze and decorations until you are ready to serve them.
In Smart Cookies #014, I mentioned a recipe that called for both butter and heavy whipping cream1. These ingredients tend to yield very delicate cookies. The first recipe here is a much leaner version with these ingredients1.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together in a bowl and set aside for later use.
Combine honey, molasses, and sugar in a saucepan. Stir well to mix over medium heat. Bring it to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat and carefully stir in water, a little at a time.
Pour the warm honey mixture into the dry ingredients to form a firm dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into three pieces.
Work with one piece of dough at a time and cover the rest with a clean cloth or plastic wrap.
Roll a piece of dough to about ¼-inch thick. Cut out cookies using a heart-shaped or fluted round cutter or both. Re-roll the scrap but no more than once.
Bake lebkuchen for about 10-15 minutes or until they are well risen, no longer shiny, and slightly firm to touch.
Slide the entire parchment paper with honey cakes on them to wire racks to cool.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by boiling the corn syrup in a small pan. Immediately brush the hot glaze over each lebkuchen, and decorate it with a candied cherry and sliced almonds.
The second recipe makes lebkuchen in bar form. It calls for the following ingredients:2
| Honey | 1/3 cup
| | Packed light or dark brown sugar | ¾ cup
| | Egg, beaten | 1 large
| | Lemon juice, freshly squeezed | 3 Tbsp
| | Grated lemon zest | 1 tsp
| | All purpose flour | 2½ cups
| | Baking soda | ½ tsp
| | Ground cinnamon | 1 tsp
| | Ground cloves | 1 tsp
| | Allspice | ½ tsp
| | Ground nutmeg | ½ tsp
| | Chopped blanched almonds | 1/3 cup
| | Confectioners’ sugar | ¾ cup
| | Vanilla extract | ¼ tsp
| | Candied cherries | enough for decoration
| | Sliced almonds | enough for decoration
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and line a 13x9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing about a 2-inch overhang.
Bring honey to a boil in a saucepan. After it is cool, add brown sugar, beaten egg, one tablespoon of freshly squeeze lemon juice and grated lemon zest.
Combine flour, baking soda, and spices in a separate bowl. Sift it over the honey mixture.
Add chopped blanched almonds and stir until well blended.
Press dough into the prepared pan and bake for about 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
Mix confectioners’ sugar with the remaining freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 Tbsp) and vanilla extract. Add enough water to the mixture to yield a spreadable consistency.
Spread the glaze over the warm bar. Immediately mark it into squares and decorate each square with a candied cherry and sliced almonds.
Transfer the pan with lebkuchen bar to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lift the cooled bar to a cutting board with the overhanging foil. Carefully peel off the foil, cut into bars and enjoy!
Other Recipes for Homemade Cookies from Around the World
References:
1 Nick Malgieri. A Baker’s Tour - Nick Malgieri’s Favorite Baking Recipes from Around the World. First Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 2005.
2 Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking - Christmas Cookies. First Edition. Simon & Schester Inc. 1996.
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