Lebkuchen Or German Honey Cakes Food

LEBKUCHEN: THE AUTHENTIC GERMAN HONEY CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F/160C/gas mark 4. Line a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses, buttermilk and extract. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice, cardamom and cloves and gradually add to creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in walnuts.
• Place raisins, dates, lemon peel, coconut, orange peel and pineapple in a food processor; pulse until chopped.
• Stir into batter.
• Press down into prepared pan.
• Bake 25-28 minutes or until lightly browned.
• For glaze, in a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in confectioners' sugar. Spread over warm bars.
• Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
• Cut into slices when completely cold.

LEBKUCHEN (GERMAN HONEY BARS)

Steps:

• Honey bars:
• Heat honey and water in a large heavy saucepan until runny. Remove from heat, and stir in butter until melted. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in brown sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the honey mixture and stir just until combined. Add almonds, citron, and candied orange peel. Stir until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 24 hours or up to 1 month.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper so it extends over the 2 long sides.
• Firmly press the dough into the prepared pan to form a smooth, even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 30 minutes.
• Citrus glaze and decoration:
• In a medium bowl, beat together powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. While the lebkuchen is still warm, spread glaze evenly over the top.
• Mark into bars by cutting into the lebkuchen about ¼ inch deep with a knife. Decorate, if desired, by placing 1 candied cherry in the center of each bar. And arrange 4 blanched almonds around each cherry.
• Let stand in the pan on a rack until completely cool and the icing is set. Using the overhanging parchment as handles, transfer to a cutting board. Cut into bars. If possible, let the cookies age for at least 2 weeks to allow the spices to ripen. Lebkuchen will keep for months in an airtight container.

LEBKUCHEN (GERMAN XMAS HONEY CAKES)

Steps:

• 1. in a small pan Mix honey and molasses and bring to a boil. Once to a boil, take off heat and cool thoroughly.
• 2. Once cooled, stir in brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix well.
• 3. sift together and stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg mixing well.
• 4. Mix in chopped nuts and if you want to add the cut up citron do this now. I prefer not to use the citron.
• 5. Form dough into a ball, wrap well with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• 6. You are going to work the dough a little at a time as you want to keep remainder chilled while you are working a portion. lightly flour your surface and using a small amount about baseball size (be sure to put rest of your dough back in fridge), roll out 1/4 inch thick and cut into oblong 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch pieces.
• 7. Bakers Tip... While cookies bake make your glazing icing
• 8. Place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until when touched lightly, no imprint remains.
• 9. While cookies are baking you will want to make your glazing icing. Boil together sugar and water to 230 degees. The liquid should look almost like a thread when drizzled. Remove from heat. Stir in confectioners sugar. (when icing gets sugary, reheat slightly, adding a little water until clear again.)
• 10. Brush hot icing thinly over cookies the minute they are out of the oven. Then quickly remove from baking sheet. Cool and store to mellow
• 11. Bakers Tip: How to "Mellow" cookies... store in air tight container for a few days. Add a few apple slices, changing it 2x a day to insure freshness

GERMAN LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the egg, brown sugar and honey until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice; stir into the molasses mixture. Stir in the almonds and candied fruit peel. Cover or wrap dough, and chill overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into 2x3 inch rectangles. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. While still warm, brush the cookies with the lemon glaze.
• To make the glaze: In a small bowl, stir together the egg white, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Brush over cookies.

LEBKUCHEN (GERMAN CHRISTMAS HONEY COOKIES)

Steps:

• Mix honey and molasses and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool completely.
• Stir in brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon rind.
• Sift together flour, baking soda and spices, then stir into the honey-molasses mix.
• Mix in the citron and chopped nuts, place the dough in the refrigerator and chill overnight.
• Roll out a small amount of dough at a time to 1/4 inch thick, keeping the rest in the fridge. You can either cut out oblong shapes about 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" or just cut out circle shapes about 2" in diameter.
• Place on a GREASED baking sheet about 1" apart.
• Place 3 almonds on top of each cookie in a flower shape, and place in a 400 deg oven for 10-12 min or until no imprint remains when touched lightly.
• While cookies bake, make glaze by boiling the water and sugar to 230 degrees - until it just barely begins to thread.
• Remove from heat and stir in confectioners sugar.
• Brush the hot glaze lightly over the cookies (if it gets grainy reheat slightly with a little water to thin again).

LEBKUCHEN OR GERMAN HONEY CAKES

Steps:

• Put the honey and the sugar in a mixing bowl, and beat until blended. Add the egg and beat very well. Stir in the lemon juice. Combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice, and sift them together onto a piece of waxed paper. Add to the honey mixture and beat well. Stir in the citron. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (The dough will be much easier to roll out if it is well chilled). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease some cookie sheets. Place ½ of the dough on a lightly floured surface (keep the other half chilled). Roll the dough into a large rectangle about ¼ inch thick, sprinkling flour as necessary to keep it from sticking. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into rectangles about 1½ by 2½ inches. Place about 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Roll out the other half while you are baking the first batch of cookies. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are slightly colored. Remove from the oven, and gently lift the cookies off the sheets, and onto wire racks to cool. While the cookies are still warm, brush with a clear glaze, if you wish. Store airtight for at least several days, so the cookies can mellow. Clear Glaze: Brush glaze on cookies as soon as they come from the oven to give them a clear, shiny top, and to add a little sweetness. The glaze will harden as it dries, and the cookies cool. Combine the sugar and water and mix well, to dissolve any lumps, and to make a smooth runny glaze. Brush or spoon on cookies while they are still warm.

GERMAN LEBKUCHEN CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Steps:

• For syrup:
• Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (orange part only) from oranges in strips. Mince enough peel to measure 4 tablespoons. Mix honey, orange juice and 2 tablespoons orange peel (reserve remaining 2 tablespoons peel for cake) in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Set honey syrup aside.
• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F Butter 9-inch square baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom with waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pan with flour. Using electric mixer, beat first 8 ingredients in large bowl until fluffy. Mix in reserved 2 tablespoons minced orange peel. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder into medium bowl. Mix half and half and lemon juice in small bowl. Beat dry ingredients alternately with half and half mixture into butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix in currants. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. (Cake will not rise to top of pan.) Cool cake 20 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen. Turn cake out onto rack; cool. Peel off paper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover syrup and cake separately and let stand at room temperature.)
• For frosting:
• Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Cool to barely luke warm. Using electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light. Add chocolate and 1/4 cup honey syrup and beat until smooth and light. Chill until thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
• Cut cake horizontally in half. Place bottom layer cut side up on platter. Brush with 1/4 cup honey syrup. Spread 1 1/4 cups frosting over. Brush remaining 1/4 cup syrup over cut side of top cake layer. Place cake cut side down atop filled layer. Set aside 2/3 cup frosting for garnish. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Press almonds around sides. Spoon remaining 2/3 cup frosting into pastry bag fitted with small star tip. Pipe frosting decoratively around top edge of cake. Chill cake until frosting sets, about 1 hour. Garnish with orange slices or orange peel ribbons. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand 2 hours at room temperature before serving.).

HONIGKUCHEN (GERMAN HONEY CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Use a paper towel to rub the softened butter over the bottom and sides of a jelly roll pan. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of flour over the butter and tip the pan from side to side to spread evenly. Invert the pan and tap to remove any excess flour.
• In a large bowl, stir together the 5 cups of flour, baking powder, ground almonds, coco, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon peel, and almond extract. In a large saucepan, bring the honey, sugar, and water to boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour the hot honey mixture over the flour mixture and stir together until a smooth dough is formed.
• Spread the dough into the pan. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately sprinkle with slivered almonds, pressing them gently into the surface of the cake. Let the cake rest for 4-5 minutes, then cut. You can cut it into squares, rectangles, or any sort of fancy shape! Transfer pieces to a wire rack to cool.
• I've heard this is better if you store it wrapped in foil for several days before serving, but I've never done it.