Lebkuchen recipe saught

[JennyFal]

I am trying to find a lebkuchen recipe my German grandmother use to make when I was a kid. Most lebkucken are in cookie form, but this was an 8" square cake.

[Robyncz]

I have a bunch of old German cookbooks from when I lived abroad. I'll leaf through them and see if I can find anything for you. If I find something, are you okay with the metric measurements? I'm terrible at conversions!

Robyn

[Gail]

Although I can't vouch for either of these, here are two recipes from SOAR's new home, RecipeSource: http://www.recipesource.com/



Title: AUNT HANNAH'S LEBKUCHEN
Categories: Penndutch, Cakes
Yield: 1 servings

4 ea Egg
1 lb Brown sugar
1 1/2 c Flour
1 t Baking powder
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Cloves
3/4 c Raisins
3/4 c Nuts, chopped
3/4 c Wine
1 x *or:
3/4 c Coffee

Beat the eggs well. Add sugar, cloves and cinnamon. Sift flour three
times, add the baking powder and sift into the egg mixture alternately
with the wine (or substituted coffee). Mix nuts and raisins together
and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp of flour. Add to mixture and beat thoroughly.
Pour batter in flat, greased pans and bake at 400-F about 15 minutes.
Source: Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book - Fine Old Recipes, Culinary
Arts Press, 1936.

* Exported from MasterCook *

LEBKUCHEN (LUZERN)

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cakes Desserts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 dl Fresh cream
80 g Pear molasses -- (1) (*)
60 g Pear molasses -- (2) (*)
150 g Sugar
20 g Candied lemon peel -- diced
20 g Candied orange peel -- diced
1 pn Ground aniseed
1 pn Ground cinnamon
1 pn Ground nutmeg
1 pn Ground clove
Salt
20 g Baking powder
500 g Wholemeal (or white) flour
2 dl Warm milk

(*) Pear molasses AKAs treacle

(Units: 100 g ó 1/2 oz; 1 dl ó 1/2 fl oz ò/5 cup; 180 oC ó50 oF;
200 oC ô00 oF; 230 oC ô50 oF; 250 oC ô75 oF; 2.5 cm ñ inch)

The story:

This speciality is the "gourmand cake" of the St. Nicholas Festival
celebrated annually on 6th December. Presided over by the Bishop of Myra,
the feast day assumes an air of solemnity in Lucerne itself, culminating in
a procession through the town. "St. Nicholas" is preceded by two heralds
and is escorted by frightening "Schmutzli" (large puppets) who, according
to tradition, are thought to punish children who have misbehaved during the
year. Only well behaved children receive presents from St. Nicholas on this
special day.

The recipe:

Whip the cream and mix with molasses (1), spices and salt. Add the baking
powder, flour, warm milk and diced peel, mixing throughly until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a greased and lined sponge ring and bake for 45-50
minutes at 180 oC.

When baked, brush the top with the pear molasses (2) to glaze.

Recommended drink: tea or coffee.

Culinary Art and Traditions of Switzerland, Pro Gastronomia, 1992

Typed for you by Rene Gagnaux @ 2:301/212.19


--

Oh and regarding the Robyn's concern over metric conversions, there are web sites specifically designed to do the job for you, so not to worry!

Good luck in your quest!

[JennyFal]

Robyn, I don't mind converting to metric.

Gail, Thanks for finding & posting the 2 recipes. The cake my grandma made had no raisins or nuts in it. I just found a copy of her recipe that she rewrote in her mid-90s. It couldn't be possible that the entire cake is made with 1/4 teaspoon butter, could it???? Oh, the problem with translating from German & reading the wavy handwriting of someone in her 90s. I wonder if it shold be 14 teaspoons. Anyway, I'll try it & see what happens.

[Grace]

Jenny, maybe she meant 1/4 pound? That would be one stick, and makes more sense.

But would you mind posting your grandmother's recipe? I would like to try it myself! I am German and so is my husband - we both speak German too, so I understand the ingredients/measurements and don't need it translated if there's a word or two you don't know. Thanks!!

[Robyncz]

I'd also love to see the recipe. I do some German translation, and I'd be happy to translate it for you if you'd like!

Robyn

[JennyFal]

I'm sure it's teaspoons, not pounds since she always wrote the butter in teaspoons for all her recipes unless it was an even cup. Here's the recipe exactly as she wrote it, but don't hold it against me if it turns out horribly. She always topped it with a thin chocolate glaze, which I don't have a recipe for.

I'm going to try it with 12 tsp of butter & I'll post the results. My mom thinks 1/2 tsp could be correct because of the texture of the finished product, but that just doesn't make sense to me, given what I know about baking. I wish I cleared this up while she was still alive.

Oma's Lebkuchen

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cold coffee

Preheat oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit (Must convert to a signifigant number in metric).

Mix sugar, honey, molasses, egg & butter. Sift dry ingredients together. Add dry to wet. Add coffee. Bake in an 8" pan for 20 minutes.

[AD]

I've seen numerous recipes for the cookies in several cookbooks. No Lebkuchen recipe called for ANY butter! It would seem pointless to use such a small amount though. I don't see how that amount could affect the recipe.

I've seen honey as a sweetener in many non-fat and low fat cookie recipes. That would eliminate the need for much butter. I've even made nonfat rolled cookies with honey and no butter, and they do turn out okay.

[JennyFal]

Thanks for the feedback AD. I'm going to try it this afternoon exactly the way she wrote it & will post the results, hopefully tomorrow. With a toddler in the house I may not get to bake till tomorrow :)

[sneezles]

"Kuchen" is the German word for cake and lebkuchen is a cake-like cookie so the amount of fat would be lower than a regular cookie. A kuchen recipe that I have has 1/2 cup of butter but it also has yeast and it is divided between 2 9-inch pans. Half that would be 1/4 cup/4 tbs/12 tsp...I think your estimation is correct,
Jenny.