TOP 3 recipes with photos of making Nuremberg gingerbread for Christmas. The subtleties and secrets of cooking at home. Video recipes.
The German city of Nuremberg is world famous for its Christmas pastries, and especially for its large selection of all kinds of gingerbread (Lebkuchen). Nuremberg gingerbread can be with various fillings, aromas, glaze, shapes, decors … The history of gingerbread production in Nuremberg goes back to the Middle Ages. Today the city has 5 large factories and countless small ones for the production of gingerbread. And if Nuremberg is not the gingerbread capital of Germany, because several German cities claim this right, but they can be called the producer of the most renowned and richest in composition. So, we bake Lebkuchen Nuremberg gingerbread for Christmas at home.
Subtleties and secrets of cooking
- The main feature of Nuremberg gingerbread lies in the products, namely in the flour. The main principle and the main difference is that the less flour in the dough, the better. According to the technology, the dough should contain only 10% flour, and the rest of the products should be expensive high-grade additives. You can find gingerbread made from a mixture of wheat and rye flour. And the most expensive gingerbread cookies may not contain wheat flour at all.
- For flavoring, a variety of spices and herbs are added to the dough: coriander, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, anise, saffron, etc.
- The shape of the Nuremberg gingerbread should not be round, but only rectangular. However, this rule applies more to industrial production, because at home, you can make gingerbread cookies in any convenient shape.
- Another feature of Lebkuchen gingerbread is that they are baked on thin edible paper or wafers. The wafers are thin sheets of wafer-like paper made from wheat flour with starch. While not necessary, using cachets will soften the gingerbread and extend their shelf life.
- Glaze is given equal attention. Although gingerbread can be without it at all. The most common glaze is translucent sugar. The second most popular is chocolate. But at home, you can use color and other types of it.
Nuremberg gingerbread - a classic recipe
Nuremberg gingerbread or Elisen Lebkuchen have been known in European countries for a long time. This is a fabulous winter treat for Christmas with a distinctive spice aroma. With all the seeming complexity and a frightening impressive list of ingredients, cooking them is simple and enjoyable.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 389 kcal.
- Servings - 15-18
- Cooking time - 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- Flour - 100 g
- Eggs - 4 pcs.
- Almond flour - 180 g
- Chopped almonds - 150 g
- Wafer cakes - 3-4 pcs.
- Salt - a pinch
- Baking powder for dough - 1 tablespoon
- Powdered sugar or sugar - 100 g per dough, 1 tbsp. for glaze
- Orange and lemon - 1 pc.
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Vanillin - on the tip of a spoon
- Boiling water - 3-4 tbsp.
- Dried apricots - 50 g
- Candied fruits - 200 g
- Nutmeg, cocoa, cinnamon and ground cloves - 1 tsp each.
Cooking Nuremberg gingerbread according to the classic recipe:
- Beat eggs with sugar and a pinch of salt with a mixer until white foam.
- With an orange and half a lemon, grate the zest on a very fine grater and add to the egg mass.
- Then add sifted flour, baking powder, vanillin, cocoa, and spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves).
- Add almond flour and finely chopped candied fruits and dried apricots.
- Knead the rather sticky and thick dough for the Elisen Lebkuchen.
- Cut the wafer cakes into rectangles and place them on a baking sheet. They replace the original cachets.
- Shape the gingerbread cookies to a thickness of 1.5 cm of dough and place them on a waffle layer.
- Place the baking sheet in a preheated oven to 170-180 ° C and bake the Nuremberg gingerbread for 30-35 minutes. They should be browned, but the inside should remain medium soft.
- Prepare the icing while the items are baking. To do this, beat the icing sugar with lemon juice and boiling water with a mixer until a homogeneous viscous mass. Squeeze the lemon juice from the remaining second half of the lemon.
- Lubricate the hot gingerbread with icing and leave for several hours to dry.
- Place the finished gingerbread cookies in an airtight container, tin can or cardboard box for storage.
Honey Nuremberg Gingerbread Lebkuchen
Nuremberg honey gingerbread lebkuchen covered with chocolate glaze. This is a luxurious combination of flavors, which is also complemented by spices, nuts and candied fruits.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 300 g
- Milk - 175 ml
- Butter - 100 g
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Baking powder - 1 pack
- Honey - 120 g
- Sugar - 50 g
- Spices for gingerbread (anise, ginger, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon) - 3-4 tsp.
- Cocoa - 2 tablespoons
- Chopped nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts) - 50 g each
- Candied lemon and orange fruits - 50 g each
- Raisins - 100 g
- Coconut flakes - 50 g
- Rum - 2 tablespoons
- Powdered sugar - 200 g
- Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
- Chocolate - 100 g
- Wafer cakes - as wafers
Making honey Nuremberg gingerbread Lebkuchen:
- Combine butter at room temperature, sugar, liquid honey and eggs in a deep bowl and beat with a mixer until white.
- Combine flour with baking powder, gingerbread spice, cocoa, ground nuts, candied fruit, raisins and coconut.
- Combine both mixtures and stir.
- Add milk to the food and knead the non-batter.
- Cut the wafer cakes into a round or rectangular shape and place on a baking sheet.
- Place the dough on the wafers and spread it over the entire surface of the waffles so that the gingerbread cookies are about 1 cm thick.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 ° C for 20 minutes.
- Cover the still warm gingerbread with chocolate icing.
- For the icing, mix the icing sugar, lemon juice and rum until smooth.
- Top the Lebkuchen honey Nuremberg gingerbread with melted chocolate and garnish with nuts.
Christmas Nuremberg Gingerbread
Christmas Nuremberg gingerbread is the richest in ingredients and the most delicious! In consistency, it is quite soft, which is facilitated by the cachet on which they are traditionally baked. You can cook gingerbread without a cachet; this does not significantly affect the taste, however, the shelf life will be significantly reduced.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 300 g
- Egg - 2 pcs.
- Butter - 50 g
- Cocoa - 1 tablespoon
- Granulated sugar - 50 g
- Honey - 150 g
- Ground hazelnuts - 100 g
- Ground almonds - 100 g
- Chopped almonds - 50 g
- Finely chopped dried apricots - 100 g
- Candied orange fruits - 100 g
- Seasoning for gingerbread - 1 tablespoon
- Lemon - 0.5 pcs.
- Waves - on demand
- Powdered sugar - 150 g
- Water - 4 tablespoons
- Cinnamon to taste
Cooking Christmas Nuremberg Gingerbread:
- Dissolve sugar, honey and butter over medium heat until smooth. Then cool the mixture completely and stir in the gingerbread seasoning.
- Grate the zest from half a lemon, squeeze out the juice and add to the products.
- Next, stir in the eggs and add all the other ingredients.
- Knead to a homogeneous elastic dough.
- Soak your hands in water, take about 75 g of gingerbread dough and shape the cake to the shape and size of a wafer, which should be about 8 cm in diameter, and place the dough on top of it.
- Bake the gingerbread cookies in a preheated oven to 170 ° C on a medium level for 15 minutes until a light browning is formed.
- Cover completely cooled gingerbread cookies with glaze. To do this, combine the powdered sugar with water, and heat the mass so that the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add the cinnamon and stir.
- Leave the gingerbread cookies to set the frosting and place them in an airtight storage container.
