Lebkuchen is a traditional German baked Christmas cookie, somewhat resembling gingerbread
1 egg
4 tablespoons clear honey
55g/2oz. butter or margarine
55g/2oz. soft brown sugar
225g/8oz. plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
30g/1oz. cocoa powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
85g/3oz. icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
food colouring (optional)
Equipment: icing bag or a cone of greaseproof paper
Oven temperature: 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6
- Grease a baking sheet with butter. Separate the egg. Put the yolk into a bowl. You don't need the egg white.
- Turn on the oven. Put the honey, butter and sugar in a pan over a low heat. Stir them until the butter has melted.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, ginger and mixed spice into a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk.
- Mix the melted butter, honey and sugar into the flour. Squeeze the mixture into a ball of dough with your hands.
- Sprinkle some flour onto a clean worktop and onto a rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it is half a centimetre (quarter of an inch) thick.
- Use cookie cutters or a knife to cut out different shapes. Roll out the leftover dough and cut out more shapes.
- Use a spatula to lift the biscuits onto the baking sheet. Make a hole at the top of each biscuit with a skewer.
- Bake the biscuits for seven to eight minutes, until golden. Then, lift them onto a wire rack and leave them to cool.
- Meanwhile, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Mix in the tablespoon of lemon juice, stirring really well.
- Spoon some of the icing into a smaller bowl. Mix in a few drops of food colouring, if you like.
- When the biscuits have cooled, spoon the icing into an icing bag. Pipe on the icing slowly by squeezing the bag.
Serves 4
Category: Baking
