FRONT BURNER: Lebkuchen, a Christmas staple in Germany, simple to make

Chocolate-glazed Lebkuchen
Chocolate-glazed Lebkuchen

For me it isn't Christmas without lebkuchen.

Ever since the early 1990s the treat and my winter holidays have been inextricably linked.

I blame my German exchange brother, Jochen. For Christmas his family sent my family a giant tin of the famous Lebkuchen Schmidt.

It wasn't my first lebkuchen experience, as I had lived in Germany the year before. And the year before that we had our first German exchange student, Kerstin.

But the tin of Lebkuchen Schmidt became an annual treat when his family sent a tin the following year and the year after and so on. Twenty-five years later the tradition still going.

For those unfamiliar with the delights of lebkuchen, it should be noted lebkuchen is not gingerbread. Even if many companies label their English export products as gingerbread. Though some recipes include ginger, many do not.

Lebkuchen is better described as a spiced-honey baked good. Somewhere between a cookie and a cake.

It's soft and chewy; rich with nuts and fruit, yet light and airy.

And lebkuchen is everywhere at Christmastime in Germany.

Some are coated in chocolate while others don a simple confectioners' sugar glaze. Some have soft, jammy fruit fillings and others are topped with almonds. Some are filled with marzipan.

Most lebkuchen are made with almonds or hazelnuts, candied citron and orange peel, honey and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and yes, sometimes ginger.

Christmas lebkuchen is not to be confused with the lebkuchen hearts sold at Oktoberfest and other festivals around Germany. Those hearts, often decorated with writing in icing, are very much like the hard, crunchy gingerbread we make houses with here in the U.S.

I recently tried making lebkuchen with excellent results.

The candied zest of oranges and lemons is essential for an authentic flavor. Unfortunately, many local grocery stores only sell candied mixed fruit, which contains artificial coloring as well as unnecessary additional fruits. The good news is it is easy to make your own candied citrus for baking. I've included a recipe.

Traditional lebkuchen is baked on oblaten -- thin, paperlike edible wafers-- but the following recipe is prepared without them, as they can be difficult to find in the United States.

This simple lebkuchen includes cinnamon and cloves, but feel free to add a little anise, cardamon, nutmeg or ginger if you'd like a more heavily spiced cookie.

Chocolate-Glazed Lebkuchen

Vegetable oil or nonstick spray

3 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups honey (about 1 pound)

1 cup finely chopped or ground almonds or hazelnuts

1/2 cup candied citrus, very finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup strong black coffee or milk

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

For the glaze:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable shortening

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a half sheet (jellyroll) pan with foil. Brush foil with vegetable oil or spritz with nonstick spray. Then line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and pale yellow. Add honey, nuts, candied citrus, cinnamon and cloves and mix well. Drizzle in the coffee (or milk) and mix until combined.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Blend thoroughly. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake 12 minutes or until light golden brown.

Cool in pan.

Cut cooled lebkuchen into desired shapes.

For the chocolate glaze:

Melt chocolate with coconut oil or shortening in a double boiler or in microwave, stirring until completely smooth. Dip cooled and cut lebkuchen into melted chocolate, coating it completely and letting the excess drip off. Transfer pieces to wax or parchment paper. Let cool until chocolate is set. Transfer to an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton

Quick Candied Citrus

3 oranges or large lemons or a combination, organic recommended

1/2 cup granulated sugar

If using conventionally grown citrus, scrub well under very warm water to remove any wax coating.

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest (colored part only) of the oranges or lemons in wide strips 1 to 2 inches long, avoiding the white pith as much as possible. Cut the strips into 1/8-inch-wide slices.

Bring a 2-quart saucepan of water to a boil, add the zest, and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and repeat.

In the saucepan, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer 2 minutes. Stir in the boiled zest and cook, stirring occasionally, until the syrup thickens and coats the zest, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the zest along with any syrup to a small heatproof bowl or jar and cool to room temperature. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 months). If you don't plan to bake with the candied citrus, you can dry it and give it a crunchy sugar coating by draining it well, then tossing the drained citrus with granulated sugar and placing it on a rack to dry overnight.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

Food on 12/13/2017

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