ISO Lebkuchenherzen recipe

[Anya L]

I need a recipe for Lebkuchenherzen (gingerbread hearts) like the ones that are sold at Oktoberfest. They are not made with nuts or candied fruit. I believe they are made well in advance and soften with time.

In The New German Cookbook (Jean Anderson and Hedy Wurz) there is a recipe for Lebkuchen which looks right. Has anyone made this? How far in advance should I bake the cookies?

[toodie jane]

I have a recipe at home; will post it when I get back. It is from an Austrian pastry chef, pretty sure it is in-country authentic. It uses a flour/butter/sugar/molasses dough that you chill and roll out in parts. Then bake and cool; decorate with a Royal Anne frosting to make the delicate swirls and decos. These ar every good, not short, and keep well in a tightly covered tin. Great dunkers in coffee. I make them the first week in Dec. for gifting.

[pgmom]

Hi - I am a reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who is writing a story about Oktoberfest and need a good recipe for Lebkuchen. This one sounds good - could you give me the history? And would it be okay to reproduce?
Thanks,

[Anya L]

I finally tried to make Lebkuchenherzen for Oktoberfest. I ended up using the recipe from The New German Cookbook, but substituting dark brown sugar for the white sugar. Because I got busy, I "aged" the dough for a few days in the fridge before baking. The cookies turned out well, which is to say that they are very hard and you can hang them around your neck! They do taste pretty good though and they are not so hard that you can't eat them. My toddler loves them, but then again, he may be teething :)

[toodie jane]

Sorry I missed your reply--but here is belated reference information.

This recipe was for the traditional hearts decorated with royal icing and sold in the winter markets. It was from a local baking instructor--Marika Kolinsky-Phillips, a wonderful Austrian lady who, as a young girl, married a Count just after WWII and then divorced him, moved to the U.S., married and settled down in coastal California. She passed away a few years ago, but I think here husband still slives in San Luis Obispo. None of the recipes were copywrighted to my knowledge.

This recipe was part of the series she taught in her home, "Austrian Pastries-Christmas Specialties." Other recipes includes Wiennachtstollen, Bichofs Brot, Yule Log, Vanillekipferren, and others. (forgive my misspelling, if any) The classes were marvelous. She would demonstrate the entire recipe while we took notes and tasted the end product, then we made the receipes at home and brought back to next week's class any concern or problems we had. I learned so much from her about baking basics. For many years after, these recipes were part of my holiday baking rotation. I still make the Lebkuchen as they age well and make wonderful dunkers.

Marika would always say "Buttah! You must use good sweet buttah!" What a dear she was. ALL her recipes had plenty of butter!

Again, I aplogoze for the tardiness; let me know if can help any further

[Cheese Boy]

Online recipes: (1) http://www.recipecottage.com/german/lebkuchenherzen.html

(2) http://www.homebakedmemories.com/pages/HBKitchenGermanHeart.htm

(3) http://www.kitchenproject.com/html/germcook.html#lebkuchen

(4) http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0...

[Anya L]

Has anyone actually made any of these recipes?

[toodie jane]

Lebkuchen recipe from Marika Kolinsky-Phillips c.1978

3/4 C unsalted butter-soft but not warm
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T. ginger, powdered
1 tsp. cinnamon and grated lemon zest, finely minced
1/2 tsp. grated orange zest, finely minced

3/4 c. light molasses
1/3 c. honey
2 beaten medium size eggs
3-4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl, beat in spices.
Heat molasses and honey to boiling, cool 10 mintues.
Stir mollases mixture into butter, beat in eggs.
Sift 2/3 of lfour with soda, and salt, and stir into batter.
Stir in as much of remaining flour as needed to get a soft dough. (feels like a baby's bottom) Shape into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Chill till cold.

Roll dough 1/3" thick, cut into shapes brush with slightly beaten egg white, bake 350 degrees 12-15 minutes on greased sheet. Do not let edges brown. Cool 10 minutes. Decorate with a very stiff royal icing piped into thoroughly cooled cookies.

Royal icing is slightly beaten egg whites with powdered sugar added till the icing becomes rather stiff.

I make these every year and they are well-received. Not too sweet with a nice spiciness and they keep well in a tighly covered tin box.

[chomeier]

I have the recipe you are looking for!! there are actually two different cookies here. This recipe I found, is from a German website and contains ingredients the are difficult to find (if at all)in the USA and is somewhat time consuming. The typical recipes found on the web are for the traditional Lebkuchen which are traditional round or square cookies with a very light icing on top. These cookies are edible and somewhat soft in texture (NOT good for wearing around your neck at Oktoberfest!)

This recipe , is more along the lines of a gingerbread cookie except I would imagine it is a very hard cookie like you might use in a gingerbread house.

I too was really excited to bake some of these to take to my Oktoberfest party (after living in Germany for the past 5 years) until I realized what I was involved you have to mix the dough, rest it for two days then add your leavening agents. I am missing some of the critical German ingredients like Potasch, and other leavening ingredients as well as the Lebkuchen spices which include cinnamon, star anis, clove,cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, fennel, mace, and ground orange and lemon peel (not candied).

I might try to take a gingerbread cookie recipe and spice it up a bit and add some cocoa for color. I know its not authentic but neither is ...Oktoberfest in the US!

[reannd]

I have made these (adapted from and old school EatingWell recipe)
They are confirmed good. Very hard @ first, chewier every day. Great defrosted.

Peppered Lebkuchen
2 c flour
1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c honey
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest, 1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
glaze
1/4 tsp powdered sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp orange juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest, 1/2 tsp grated orange zest

To make dough:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, mace b. soda, salt & pepper until combined. In another, larger mixing bowl, blend honey, brown sugar, egg and lemon/orange zests. Add the dry ingredients & stir to make a smooth, somewhat stiff & sticky dough. Transfer onto wax paper or plastic wrap & refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

To make glaze:
Preheat oven to 350deg. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets or coat them with nonstick spray. Working with half the dough at a time, roll out onto a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle slightly < 1/4" thick. With a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, trim the eges and cut into 1.25 by 2" rectangles. Transfer the cookies to prepared the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1" apart.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time for 8-10 min or until the edges are lightly colored & cookies are firm. Immediately transfer to a wire rack. Brush the tops of the warm cookies with the glaze & let stand until glaze sets, ~1 hour. (store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks).