Lebkuchen Vi Food

LEBKUCHEN VI

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, stir together the honey and molasses. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Add the molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the citron and hazelnuts. Cover dough and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Using a small amount of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into small rectangles and place them 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until no imprint remains when touched lightly. Brush the icing over the cookies while they are still hot and quickly remove them to wire cooling racks. Store in airtight container with a cup of orange or apple for a few days to mellow.
• To make the icing: Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar. If icing becomes sugary while brushing cookies, re-heat slightly- adding a little water until crystals dissolve.

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

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with parchment., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 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; 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 into prepared pan. Bake 25-28 minutes or until lightly browned., For glaze, in a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in confectioners' sugar. Spread over warm bars. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Pulse almonds and hazelnuts in a food processor until very finely chopped. Add candied peels and dates, and pulse until finely chopped. Add almond paste, and pulse to combine. Add jam, and pulse. Add eggs and brown sugar, and pulse. Add flour mixture, and pulse. Transfer dough to an airtight container, and refrigerate overnight (or up to 3 days).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop (1/4 cup), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 3 inches apart. Place 3 almonds close together on top of each cookie. Bake until golden brown, about 14 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
• Whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk, and brush over cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• Tip the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Heat the honey and butter in a pan over a low heat until the butter melts, then pour into the flour mixture along with the lemon zest. Mix well until the dough is combined and fairly solid. Cover and leave to cool.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan160C/gas 4. Using your hands, roll dough into about 30 balls, each 3cm wide, then flatten each one slightly into a disk. Divide the biscuits between two baking trays lined with baking parchment, leaving room for them to expand. Bake for 15 mins, then cool on a wire rack.
• To ice the biscuits, mix together the icing sugar, egg white and 1-2 tbsp water to form a smooth, runny icing. Dip the top of each biscuit in the icing and spread with the back of a knife. Leave to dry out in a warm room.

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

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
• Heat the honey and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat until melted. Tip into a large mixing bowl and put in the fridge for 5 minutes.
• Remove the honey-butter mixture from the fridge and sieve in the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. (The mixture will be sticky.) Return to the fridge for about 1 hour, or until completely cold.
• With damp hands, break off pieces of the dough and roll into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball. Transfer to the baking trays and flatten down slightly, leaving enough space between each lebkuchen to spread during cooking. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the lebkuchen has risen and are firm to the touch. Set aside to cool slghtly on the baking trays, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the sugar glaze, mix the icing sugar and water in a bowl. Dip one side of the lebkuchen into the glaze and return to the wire rack, icing side up, to set.
• Alternatively, to make the chocolate glaze, melt half the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a simmering saucepan of water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water. When the chocolate has almost melted, take the pan off the heat and add the remaining chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate has melted. Dip one side of the lebkuchen into the chocolate and return to the wire rack, chocolate side up, to set.
• You can also use a combination of the icing and the chocolate glaze. Simply dunk one side of the lebkuchen in the icing and leave to set, before dunking the other side in the glaze and leave to set to completely.

LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• Make nut flour:
• Finely grind nuts with remaining nut flour ingredients in a food processor.
• Make dough:
• Beat together brown sugar, honey, and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in nut flour at low speed until just blended, then stir in candied fruit.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Arrange rice-paper rounds, shiny sides down, on 2 large baking sheets. Roll level 2-tablespoon amounts of dough into balls with dampened hands, then put 1 on each paper round and flatten slightly (dough will spread to cover paper during baking).
• Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until surface no longer appears wet, about 15 minutes total. Transfer to racks to cool.
• Ice cookies:
• Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl, then stir in water until smooth. Evenly brush tops of cooled cookies with icing. Let icing set, about 1 hour.
• Available at Fauchon (212-308-5919) or The Baker's Catalogue (800-827-6836).

LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, stir together the honey and molasses. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lastly the egg.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Add the molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the citron and hazelnuts. Cover dough and chill overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Using a small amount of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into small rectangles and place them 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until no imprint remains when touched lightly.
• Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (soft ball stage). Remove from heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar.
• Quickly brush the icing over the cookies while they are still hot (Important!) and remove them to wire cooling racks. If icing becomes sugary while brushing cookies, re-heat slightly- adding a little water until crystals dissolve.
• Store in an airtight container with a cup of orange or apple for a few days to mellow. (I never did understand that part of the instructions, and my friend had no clarification - but I take it to mean store with a cut-up apple or orange - maybe a small cup of juice? I don't know - I just stored the cookies in an airtight container by themselves!).

LEBKUCHEN

Steps:

• Mix honey, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup water in medium saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup butter to the sugar mixture (to melt) and cool this mixture approx 30 minutes.
• While the sugar mixture cools, mix the flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, nuts, and fruit in a large mixer bowl.
• Add the cooled sugar/butter mixture to the flour mixture along with the 2 slightly beaten eggs. and mix thoroughly. I use my kitchen aid mixer with the dough attachment. The dough will be thick, and sticky.
• Place the dough in a covered plastic or glass container and let the dough "ripen" for a few days in the refrigerator.
• On baking day: Roll the dough on a slightly floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the rolled dough into 1 x 3 inch strips and place on a greased baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack, and cover with transparent glaze. Lebkuchen should ripen in cake box or plastic container at lease one day before serving.
• For the transparent glaze, mix the sugar, water, vanilla together and spread thinly on the cookies.