Gingerbread is a typical Advent cake, which is mainly found on tables in Germany (country of origin) and South Tyrol. The ingredients that make it up and give it its aroma are honey, cinnamon, cloves, coriander and other spices. Originally, these honey biscuits were only sold in convent apothecaries, as they were the only ones that had a sufficient amount of honey.
The original name for the biscuits is Lebkuchen, meaning peppered bread, and it is thought that its name derives either from the Latin ‘libum’, loaf, votive offering, or from the Germanic ‘Laib’, shape of bread.
Careful research has shown that one of the earliest records of spiced cakes dates back to 350 B.C., but the Egyptians already knew of honey cakes and the Romans enjoyed panus mellitus, a cake brushed with honey before being baked.
Proceedings
Take the two flours and the baking soda and mix them together. In the meantime, slightly heat the honey with the sugar. Take and process the egg, egg yolks and butter, then add the lemon zest, vanilla sugar and gingerbread spice mixture until a dough is obtained. Place in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 3 hours.
After the waiting time is over, knead the cold mass briefly, roll it out to a thickness of 5-8 mm. Cut out the dough with pastry cutters and place the shapes on the baking tray covered with baking paper. Before baking, brush the Lebkuchen with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 180° in fan mode, or at 190° with static heat. Store the biscuits in metal tins so that they become soft and develop their full aroma.
Tips - You can cover the biscuits with an icing sugar glaze prepared by mixing 20 g egg white with 150 g icing sugar.
- If you wish, you can decorate the dough with almonds, whole walnuts or candied cherries before baking.