primitives discuss lebkuchen

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115718333

Oh my.

pscot (12,883 posts)    Mon Dec 17, 2012, 11:29 AM

Lebkuchen

My German inlaws used to send us tins of Nurnberger Lebkuchen every year about this time. These days we have to fend for ourselves. This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and it makes an excellent Lebkuchen. The beauty part is that you can do it all in the food processor. Start with the blanched almond ground pretty fine. I tripled the amount.
 
This dough has to age for at least 12 hours. I let mine sit in the fridge for 2 days. The recipe says to roll out and bake as a solid sheet, then cut into bar cookies, but it's a very sticky dough and messy to work with. I spooned it out onto a long sheet of plastic wrap and formed it into a log about 2 inches in diameter. To bake, I cut the log into rounds and put them on pachment paper. They flatten out as you slice them. Just reshape them as you lay them out. Leave space. They spread out. I got 24 cookies on 2 sheet pans, each about 3 inches in diameter. I made a glaze of powdered sugar and OJ.
 
These things keep a long time in a sealed container, and improve with age.

3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
2 teaspoons each lemon peel and orange peel, or 1/4 teaspoon each lemon oil and orange oil
 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 rounded tablespoons diced crystallized ginger, finely ground*

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/lebkuchen-recipe

cbayer (114,968 posts)  Mon Dec 17, 2012, 12:21 PM 

1. Such a classic and it looks pretty easy.

<<<hopes the ebayer primitive's son's okay, after being scared straight.

pscot (12,883 posts)    Mon Dec 17, 2012, 12:55 PM

3. It's basically an almond delight sweetened with honey and bound with flour. Sort of a German rahat loukum. It's a piece of cake.

OffWithTheirHeads (8,644 posts)    Mon Dec 17, 2012, 12:22 PM

2. King Arthur Flour. Made in the U.S.A. And employee owned

Since 1790!

<<<wonders why ^^^that's a detail worth mentioning.

[franksolich]

I take it nobody knows what lebkuchen is?

[ChuckJ]

Why can't they eat normal stuff like pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie or any number of other things?

[franksolich]

Why can't they eat normal stuff like pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie or any number of other things?

A funny thing about the effete cooking and baking primitives is that they all seem to have either European spouses, or at least European parents or in-laws.

As if it's a mark of distinction.

While some claim American spouses, they never seem to have American parents or in-laws.

[ChuckJ]

A funny thing about the effete cooking and baking primitives is that they all seem to have either European spouses, or at least European parents or in-laws.

As if it's a mark of distinction.

While some claim American spouses, they never seem to have American parents or in-laws.

Doesn't surprise me. You know one dessert that would really fit them? Fruitcake.

[franksolich]

Doesn't surprise me. You know one dessert that would really fit them? Fruitcake.

Of course, I'm not bashing European cooking.

I just think it's silly to believe having a European spouse, or parents, or in-laws is distinctive.

[marv]

Lebkuchen = gingerbread, or at least what passes for gingerbread in Germany. I'll stick with springerles.

[ChuckJ]

Lebkuchen = gingerbread, or at least what passes for gingerbread in Germany. I'll stick with springerles.

Gingerbread sounds to plebeian for the DUmmies.

[IassaFTots]

I do love fresh gingerbread.

[Celtic Rose]

Of course, I'm not bashing European cooking.

I just think it's silly to believe having a European spouse, or parents, or in-laws is distinctive.

Depends on the spouse 

[ExGeeEye]

I take it nobody knows what lebkuchen is?

I ate it at Kristkindlmarkt and sent large tins -- so large they actually contained smaller tins -- home each year I was stationed there.  Nurnberg was a favorite weekend destination for me, stationed at Hohenfels.

[GOBUCKS]

When they cook it they press it down, hard, until every last drop of honey is pressed out.

[franksolich]

When they cook it they press it down, hard, until every last drop of honey is pressed out.

I wasn't aware it was just plain old gingerbread.

By the way, it recently looks as if German's replaced French as the language of cuisine for the cooking and baking primitives.

<<guess will have to brush up on German now.

[jtyangel]

Gingerbread sounds to plebeian for the DUmmies.

They are two different recipes. Gingerbread is actually more British and does nt include almonds. At least not the kind i make. Where the dummies fawn too much over all European our board tends to wear  it as some badge of honor that we hold in disdain even minor vestiges of the heritage of our roots. Quite frankly I don't get it. Either one. Shrug

A family favorite here is pfefferneuse but not with anise. I am not an anise fan.   No badge of honor but I'm not too far from German polish roots and I'm even closer to British so I'm afraid some of those cultural treats are still a part of our repertoire.

[Karin]

I don't see that at all, jty.  Unless something happened recently that I missed. 

Frank, please, for the love of all that is good and decent, won't you please consider changing your avatar? 

[marv]

By the way, it recently looks as if German's replaced French as the language of cuisine for the cooking and baking primitives.

Bet they haven't tried schneenockerl...God! That dish is to die for......Another dish my Grandmother made when I was a kid...

Here's the recipe, frank............