Elisenlebkuchen – Classic Gingerbread from Nürnberg

/ December 22, 2014

It’s Day 22 of my Blogvent Calendar, my daily posts about what makes a German Christmas so special. With just about two days left before our Christmas party officially starts, I bring you these delicious gingerbread biscuits from Nuremberg in Franconia: made from almonds, nuts, sugar and spices, they are not only gluten free but they have been made like this, more or less, since the 14th century. Elisenlebkuchen 3 In order to bring you these – a special gift for my friend Christie of Eating Wiesbaden, really, who has helped me to pull off this whole event – I went to the Master himself, Peter, who is not only a native of Nuremberg and therefore especially qualified to make them, but who is also an excellent cook and baker, as his blog Aus Meinem Kochtopf demonstrates. Have a look at his gingerbread mould: not only does it press them into the perfect shape, a little wire contraption pushes the finished gingerbread out of the mould and onto the wafer. Ingenious. To make this specific type of gingerbread, you need round wafers, ideally of 7-9 cm diameter; the best alternative is edible rice paper. I found the typical round wafers, but only very small ones, which means that the finished product looks much smaller than the original. Nürnberger Lebkuchen, like Dresdner Stollen,is prodected by the European law: only when it has been produced in the place of origin can it call itself ‘Nuremberg’ gingerbread. I’m ok, therefore, to change and adjust the ingredients in order to present you with this London version of the famous Elisenlebkuchen.

Elisenlebkuchen (makes 20)

  • 200 g mixed peel (very finely chopped)
  • 2-4 tbs rum
  • 200g ground almonds
  • 200g almonds, finely chopped
  • 100 g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 450 g caster sugar
  • 4 tbs vanilla sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
  • 1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 tsp gingerbread spice mix
  • baking wafers (7 centimeters in diameter)
  • 80g cooking chocolate to glaze
  • 100g icing sugar
  • the juice of 1/2 lemon

Chop the mixed peel very finely, using some of the ground almonds to make them more pliable. Add the rum and leave them to soak for 2-3 hours.Elisenlebkuchen peel Mix the sugar, vanilla sugar and eggs and beat them until the mass has doubled in size and the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the peel, almonds, nuts, the lemon and orange zest, the ginger and the spices. Cover the dough and leave it to rest at room temperature for 24 hours. The next day, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Elisenlebkuchen Oblaten Using an ice cream scoop or your wet hands , form small balls from the dough. Press it flat and place the ball on the wafers, ideally leaving a little margin. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Like with most cookies, you want them to be ever so slightly undercooked. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then cover with a glaze: either the chocolate, melted in a bain marie, or by mixing the icing sugar with just enough lemon juice to make a thick glaze. Store in a tin, with a sheet of parchment paper to separate the layers. We would make them at the end of November: by placing some apple peels inside the box the Lebkuchen will stay fresh for a long time. So they say. Neither Peter nor I have ever been able to verify this claim … Elisenlebkuchen 1 So, with two days to go – have you wrapped the parcels? and decked the halls? No, me neither. But we have been given this beautiful wreath for our front door, made lovingly by my friend Orla of The Flower Room:

http://www.theflowerroomblog.com/ Never judge a hall by the way the door has been decked, I suppose 😉

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26 thoughts on “Elisenlebkuchen – Classic Gingerbread from Nürnberg”

  2. Lecker!!!! I bought some this year but it’s not the same! Yours look perfect. Also…thanks for the two German blog links….will definitely look at them more closely!

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  3. Vielen Dank Ginger!
    Freut mich, dass Du auf mein Rezept hingewiesen hast.
    Was die Methode angeht die Lebkuchen frisch zu halten, so bist Du mit Apfelscheiben sicher auf dem richtigen Weg. Ich denke aber eine halbwegs luftdichte Verpackung tut es auch.
    Und dann ist da natürlich die Frage: Wozu überhaupt einpacken.
    Bei uns werden die ziemlich schnell gefuttert und somit garantiert nicht alt.

    Ein frohes Weihnachtsfest wünsche ich Dir und Deiner Familie.
    Peter

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    • Vielen Dank für den Hinweis – ich verstecke meine Plätzchen im ganzen Haus und sie sind doch immer wieder leergefuttert …
      Euch auch wunderschöne Weihnachten, oder Merry Christmas, wie man so auf Neudeutsch sagt 😉

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  10. ahh, Lebkuchen- die esse ich sehr gerne, das ist auch das einzige Weihnachtsgebäck das ich nicht überkriege. Also, vielleicht versuche ich mich mal an dem Rezept….

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    • I owe you a lot of link-love! I hope you’ll like them – it’s been great having our joint Christmas! Btw we ended up with a haunch of deer for Christmas Day – let me know if you want any of it for a post on venison 😉

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      • Haha no you don’t at all! It was brilliant fun and you really helped me out, too 😀 I’d be totally in for a haunch of venison but I’m about to embark on a meat-free month! I hope we can carry on doing bits and pieces together this year though 🙂

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